Crashed The Wedding!
by BLUEanimeGIRL025
Summary: Sasuke confesses his undying love for a certain yellow-haired dobe, and when Naruto hesitates to respond, Sasuke misunderstands and irrationally decides to marry Sakura! Will Naruto make it in time to crash the wedding? NaruSasuNaru boylove obviously.
1. A Day To Be Celebrated

_**Summary: **__Sasuke confesses his undying love for a certain yellow-haired dobe, and when Naruto (who believes himself to be perfectly straight btw) hesitates, Sasuke completely misunderstands and agrees to marry Sakura! Will Naruto make it in time to crash the wedding?_

_**Warning: **A bit of OOC Sasuke. =]_

=A Day to be Celebrated=

* * *

It was a day to be celebrated - or at least, it was to all _except_ for the birthday boy. Really, birthday at a bar? He was underage and everything! What kind of Uchiha could have a good time in a nightclub, surrounded by idiots giving him praise? He didn't want attention, he wouldn't touch the alcohol, and he found the provocatively dancing girls up on stage less than appealing. They'd never convince him to give them a second look, not for all the winks and suggestive smiles in the world. It wasn't like Sasuke hadn't been hit on enough in his lifetime anyway.

Yes, Sasuke Uchiha was eighteen years of age today - and despite his assurances that the date of his birth would most definitely not be let known to the public, it was to his absolute misfortune that teachers (including Kakashi-sensei) were alerted by the principal whenever one of the students became of age. Not to mention, Tsunade must have known how much Sasuke would despise being thrown a party.

When he'd found out about the whole ordeal, he'd stormed his way right up into her office, but she'd just smirked and told him he needed to lighten up. Was a principal really authorized to allow her students to go on an outing which would inevitably lead to much drinking and the creation of fake IDs? Sasuke didn't think so, but then again, Tsunade had never been your average high school principal.

He wouldn't have come to this place willingly. He really wouldn't have. _If_ not for the full-out Uzumaki pout he'd gotten from Naruto. Sasuke absolutely refused to admit that _that_ look had any kind of power over him whatsoever - it was just, the thought of being near an intoxicated Naruto sounded like something he should take an interest in.

And intoxicated Naruto _was_, and so far, the night was going completely awry from the way Sasuke'd imagined it. He'd kind of somewhat hoped that the dobe would finally take a hint, notice Sasuke and sweep him up into his arms, confess his everlasting love and the two of them would end up in one or the other's bedroom by the end of the night. Or perhaps just in some obscure out-of-the-way coat closet somewhere. Where _it_ happened didn't really matter, but Sasuke found himself getting impatient.

Whereas the Uchiha himself couldn't stand to look up at the scantly dressed, big breasted women up on the bar, Naruto was practically sitting in one of their laps. Sasuke kept his arms crossed, face flaming from anger and disappointment, and tried hard not to sulk.

He was distracted when suddenly a cup of sake was pushed in front of him. He looked up, half expecting to see one of the half-naked women trying to coax him into the drink. Instead, he found sitting there his longtime friend and consultant-- Sakura. Their odd and unexpected friendship had started up in middle school, when he'd still been friendless, and hopelessly in love with a certain Uzumaki. Sakura, at the time, had been head honcho of the Sasuke Uchiha fan club - of which Sasuke himself had still been blissfully unaware, not that _that_ had lasted long.

Back then, _no one _had known the real reason why Sasuke was so quiet. Everyone who knew him, or knew _of_ him, had misunderstood, which had been a good thing for Sasuke. It wasn't that Sasuke was as tough and as cold as he pretended to be - he was just good at acting the part. All the undeserved, unwanted attention he'd received from teacher and schoolmates alike had only made things worse for him. He'd always been a quiet kid in school, and had tried to make it as apparent as possible that the reason behind it being was that everyone annoyed him.

Actually, it was much the opposite. After the death of his family (at the hands of his older brother, Itachi) Sasuke had realized his complete and utter worthlessness. Rather than willing himself to become stronger, he'd sank into a state of depression and had rather abruptly lost all forms of self-confidence he'd ever had.

It wasn't until the student body was placed into "Teams" (groups of three who were meant to be study partners... or something) that anybody really realized Sasuke's true character. It had been unfortunate, but that's a story for another time.

So, back to his middle school years -- Sasuke, a loner, and Sakura, the leader of the Evil!Fangirl Pack. Here's a basic account of how it went down:

_**flashback, babeh--**_

_Sasuke, sitting on his own again, looking forlorn. Anyone who looked his way was sent a double dose of the usual icy stare. He was in a particularly foul brooding sort of mood, and wasn't one to be trifled with. He barely had to act - the little bit of anger in him was beginning to surface for real for once. He'd woken up late that morning, had been unable to shower, and therefore on this day, his hair was a useless mess on top of his head, and bad hair days were always the worst._

_He was intently but secretively watching Naruto when Sakura approached him. The pink haired girl sat down and asked him the million dollar question, the thing that everyone else had always been too afraid to come up and say to him -- "Why are you always sitting by yourself?"_

_**/ flashback **_

And that's how it started. Sasuke'd wasted a bit of effort fruitlessly trying to get Sakura to leave him alone after that, but had been unsuccessful. After just that one moment, Sakura had refused to leave his side. She'd sit with him in class, and smile at him, and talk with him as if he were any ordinary friend. She'd ignored all his long silences, the fact that he was quiet and never responded to any of her efforts to get him to open up. Then finally one day, he'd asked why she even bothered with him, and she'd admitted that it was because he seemed lonely.

Now Sakura was one of Sasuke's _only_ friends - aside from Naruto, and it was only thanks to her that the blonde boy even knew he existed in the first place. Once alerted to the fact that Sasuke was a straight-A student, and that everyone looked up to him for apparently no reason, the blonde boy had vowed to make Sasuke his rival, which had gone perfectly awry from how Sasuke had imagined their fateful first encounter.

Yes, it was sadly true. Despite what most people believed, Sasuke was just a timid, apprehensive, angst-filled guy - completely unable to stand up for himself, helpless in the throes of young boy love, and positively, totally, undeniably pathetic. As many times as Sakura had prodded him to admit his love to Naruto, Sasuke was unable, and useless.

He had managed to do one thing right, however. Naruto had continued to peruse Sasuke as a "rival" through out their first two years of high school, even long after they'd been teamed up together. However, eventually somehow the two of them had ended up becoming friends. It'd taken them a while, since Naruto was dense and oblivious as to the way that Sasuke felt about him - the blonde had completely misunderstood, taking Sasuke's embarrassed anger for actual _real_ anger. After a while though, he'd finally noticed that Sasuke wasn't really the badass everyone thought him to be. He'd noticed Sasuke's timidity, finally realizing the reason behind all the Uchiha glares and steely silences was just that the raven was shy.

And from that day on, Naruto had used that knowledge to his advantage. Sasuke almost wished that the dobe had stayed ignorant of it - it'd been better when Naruto had hated him, not to mention much less nerve-wracking.

"How are you holding up?" Sakura asked, with slight worry shining in her eyes. She knew better than to show actual _emotion _toward Sasuke in public by now. Despite the fact that his two teammates were now aware of his more reserved nature, Sasuke was still keeping up appearances for the rest of the world. Most of them had no idea that he was really just a useless wreck, and he liked it that way.

Sasuke sighed heavily, eyeing the drink for a minute, and actually _considered_ picking it up and drinking it. "Fine," he replied shortly, opting to ignore the offensive bit of alcohol, and pursed his lips, rubbing at his forehead.

Noticing the signs of an oncoming headache, Sakura pulled out a Tylenol from her purse and handed it over to him, ordering a glass of water to help him swallow it down. Oh yes, about Sakura -- she was still ultimate leader of the Sasuke fan club, and deserving of it to, since she was the only one out of all the fangirls who could actually get close to him. However she was more manipulative than anyone could have imagined.

Her staying on as the leader of the pack was quite advantageous for Sasuke - she was suitably able to keep most of the adoring fan club off his back most of the time. In fact, she'd managed to convince the , eager group that his birthday party was being held in some far-off land, because the Uchiha clan had long ago befriended a neighboring country's prince. It was laughable, some of the stuff those girls would actually believe. They thought that Sasuke was great - some sort of inhumanly perfect entity - and so Sakura and Sasuke would play their parts, and convince them that what they believed was true.

"Maybe the best place for your party wasn't a bar...."

"Tch. You were in on it too, traitor," Sasuke mumbled, putting his head down. He glanced over once to notice that Naruto still wasn't paying attention. In fact, the blonde boy was absolutely engrossed with the woman he was currently sucking face with.

"It's your birthday, Sasuke," Sakura said with an apologetic smile. "I guess I was just hoping that one of these days you'd gain the ability to be a little more social."

"Yeah well, don't get your hopes up." Sasuke stared down at the floor beneath his feet, his heart sinking quickly. This day couldn't have gone any worse.

Scratch that. It obviously _could._

Sasuke would have been perfectly content to sit at that one spot at the bar with his head down all night, but Naruto's object of infatuation had decided to play hard to get, and had left him for a moment. Of course, whenever Naruto was bored or didn't know what to do with himself, he did what he always did best - bug the living hell out of Sasuke. It was a favorite pastime for the dobe, and one of the stronger more annoying inconveniences for Sasuke, seeing as he was helpless against his foxy friend, and could do nothing about it.

"C'mon, Sasuke," Naruto complained, sneaking up behind him suddenly. Sasuke jumped at the feel of Naruto's hands on his hips, pinching him lightly. "Liven up, have some fun."

Sasuke turned to frown at him. "Get off me, you drunken idiot," he growled quietly.

Naruto laughed, and leaned heavily against Sasuke's back, resting his chin on the Uchiha's shoulder. It was a little embarrassing, but Sasuke wasn't about to complain. "I'm not drunk," Naruto said, and was contradicted by the heavy smell of alcohol on his breath. Suddenly the blonde guy seemed to notice the sake cup that Sasuke hadn't touched. "You could stand to get a little intoxicated yourself, y'know."

Sasuke scoffed. "No way," he declined. God knows _what_ he'd do in a state like that. Sasuke wasn't about to get inebriated with Naruto around.

"Feh, suit yourself." Naruto had spotted his babe again, and was off to round her up. Sasuke's back was suddenly cold without the weight of the dobe pressed against him, and he blushed, banging his forehead on the bar once. He was so stupid. And Naruto was so stupid. And bars were stupid, and birthday parties were _definitely _stupid. Sasuke wished that he was the kind of person everyone thought he was. If so, he might go ask that chick her name, and pen it down so that he might look her up, find out where she lived, and go all scary-murderous-Uchiha on her.

If only jealousy made him stronger rather than making him feel even more powerless. Why the hell did Naruto have to toy with him like that anyway? If the guy was just gonna go running off with some chick again... he shouldn't have even bothered to stop and talk to Sasuke at all in the first place.

Somehow Sasuke had managed to convince himself that he was completely insignificant, because even at the party that was supposed to be for him he seemed to go completely ignored again. Needless to say, he was really regretting not allowing himself to drink, before shutting his eyes and falling into an uncomfortable sleep.

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha must have been the only person in the entire world who was able to sleep at a noisy bar without being the slightest bit intoxicated. The ruckus and the music and even the occasional fight that broke out hadn't been enough to stir him at all, and it was in the early hours of the morning the next day when Sakura finally shook him awake. It was still dark outside, but wouldn't be for much longer, and Sasuke's pink haired friend was stumbling all over herself blind drunk. "Feh. You too?" he asked indifferently, turning to her.

She hiccupped once, tripped over her own feet, and landed in his lap, clinging to his shoulders and wrapping her arms around his neck. Immediately Sasuke blushed a bright violent red. "Oh, Sasuke-kun," Sakura purred in his ear, and Sasuke was at a total loss of what to do. It wasn't often that Sakura slipped into her old habits of hitting on him, but it did happen from time to time. It was just that, in all the times before, she had never been quite this drunk.

Sakura's hands caressed his shoulders in an embarrassing way, her fingers creeping up to play with and tug at his hair, while the other hand made its way dangerously low. Sasuke chocked out a short cry, feebly trying to push her off. He'd never been hit on to quite this _extreme_ extent before, either.

Ironically enough, his savior of the day would be Naruto. One second Sakura was fumbling at Sasuke's waist, drunkenly trying to find his penis so that she might fondle him, and the next Naruto was behind her, pulling her hands away from him. The dobe straightened her out with a frown, and told her quite curtly that "that probably wasn't the best thing to do for the time being, even if Sasuke _was _desperately in need of some sexual exultation."

"B-but Sasu-chan...." green eyes gazed stupidly off to Sasuke's left - obviously, she thought that she was looking right at him.

Naruto snorted with laughter, trying to hold it in. "Now, now, we don't want to scar poor Sasu-chan, do we? I don't think he'd particularly enjoy being felt-up by one of his friends." Sakura looked back up at Naruto, obviously unaware of the fact that her balance was slowly slipping and that she was leaning heavily against him. After a minute, his words seemed to reach her, and she numbly nodded her head. "Uh-huh," she agreed, and swayed on her feet.

"Right," Naruto said, still smirking. "Which is why _you_ need to go home."

"Oh.... Alright." Sakura was drunk, but not stupid. The bar was nearly empty, and for just one second, her eyes were knowing as they met with Sasuke's. If she went home now, he and Naruto would be two of the only people left in the place. And apparently she was trying to tell him something along the lines of, _"now's the time to make your move, you introverted idiot - stop being such a wuss and stand up for yourself for once."_

Sasuke glared silent but slightly embarrassed replies at her as she stumbled away. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. Thanks to Sakura, he was now very much aware of how alone he and Naruto really were. The dancing girls must have all gone home sometime in the night while Sasuke'd slept, and the bartender was nowhere to be found. Besides the few snoring drunks, he and Naruto were the only ones left. "Think she'll be alright on her own?" Sasuke asked, making an attempt at avoiding any kind of awkwardness. However, his voice did come out at an embarrassingly high pitch.

Naruto turned to him with slightly amused eyes. "I'm sorry, did you really just _squeak_?" He laughed a little.

"Shut up," Sasuke mumbled, blushing slightly. If it were anybody but Naruto, he would have liked to punch them right on the nose (not that Sasuke actually had enough balls to do something like that, but still...). As it was, raging teenage hormones were playing wildly with his sense of sanity, and the dark, practically empty bar - not to mention the meaningful look that Sakura had given him - were all really pushing Sasuke over the edge. He looked up at his blonde obsession and wanted to do no more than to snog him senseless.

Naruto smirked again suddenly, and that was about the time when Sasuke realized he was staring. "What was that look for, my precious teme?" Naruto asked, crouching down to look at Sasuke's burning face. "You know, you blush at the weirdest times."

"For someone who spent the night drinking and sitting in the lap of some belly dancer, you sure don't sound very drunk," Sasuke hissed.

"Yeah well, Kyuubi doesn't really give me a choice in the matter of being drunk or not. He makes that decision for me - apparently it's annoying to _him _whenever _I_ can't function properly."

Sasuke stared up at him with wide eyes. "So you can't get drunk?" he asked bluntly. He hadn't known that. Really, Naruto seemed like the type of person who _lived_ inside a bar, and yet it was a wonder to Sasuke that the blonde boy didn't sneak in to these kind of unruly places more often.

"Unfortunately," Naruto confirmed, grinning. "I've heard it's quite fun, but I've only been allowed to experience it once myself. Kyuubi put it to a stop after that. But oh well. It's fun to pretend, and fun to watch other people." He frowned suddenly. "By the way, did you really not have a good time _at all_? The whole point of sneaking in here was to give you a good birthday bang. I'd feel like a right asshole if it was actually that terrible."

Sasuke stared guiltily down at the floor. As mean as he usually was to the dobe, he didn't want to say "I didn't have any fun at all" when Naruto had gone through all the trouble to get them in. "It was fine. I mean, it got me away from the fangirls anyway."

The famous Uzumaki grin broke it's way across Naruto's face, causing Sasuke's breath to catch for a second. His heart had decided to momentarily stop beating, too. "Thank Kami-sama for that," Naruto exclaimed with a small relieved sigh. "I'd have been bummed if I thought tonight was a total waste."

_A waste...?_ Sasuke thought. Suddenly the image of Naruto making out with that woman flashed across his mind, and he looked away from Naruto's face, suddenly unable to look into those blue eyes. "You got to suck face with some chick," he muttered, feeling that icy sting in his chest again. Jealousy -- pain. "Was that a 'total waste'?"

Naruto shrugged. "I've made out with chicks before. It's really not all it's cracked up to be. Not that I'm saying you shouldn't try it though." He reached out and playfully punched Sasuke lightly on the jaw. "You really _should_ learn to live a little, Sasuke."

"Tch. I've lived enough." He pushed Naruto's hand away, and the blonde boy laughed. "C'mon," Naruto said. "Let's get out of this bar. I was thinking I could crash at your place. Been a while since I've stayed over there."

* * *

It was true that Naruto, being himself, had once upon a time gone out every night and stay out 'til late. Sasuke'd known it for himself, because each one of those nights Naruto went out, he'd show up at Sasuke's door sometime in the early morning, wondering if he might stay over for a little while. Eventually, for reasons unknown to Sasuke, the blonde boy had stopped going out. For a while, Sasuke had just thought that Naruto had merely stopped coming over. It'd been a strangely forgotten-about feeling, and it had made Sasuke depressed for some slight time, until he'd found out that Naruto had just lost interest in being out on the town.

So, it was true that he really _hadn't_ been over in a while, especially not this late at night/early in the morn. The sun was just rising as they made their way tiredly inside the Uchiha complex, both of them laughing a little. Naruto was being an idiot. He'd managed to momentarily bring out his inner comedian, and was cracking jokes left and right - most of them stupid, and not really making any sense, but he was good at making Sasuke laugh. He was one of the few who could, and gee, I wonder why?

Sasuke, who had slept uncomfortably at the bar before, was ready for his soft, comfortable bed, and retrieved some blankets and such for Naruto so that the other boy could sleep on the couch. However, once Sasuke made his way back to the living room, he was surprised to find it empty. "Naruto?" he asked aloud, dropping the pile of pillows and sheets upon the vacant couch. With a bad feeling forming in his stomach, Sasuke was about to go check his bedroom, when Naruto suddenly appeared in the kitchen doorway. "Sorry. Needed a little something less throat-burning than alcohol."

Oh. He'd just wanted a glass of water. Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief - he knew that Naruto knew the other bedrooms in the house weren't used - besides his own of course. For a moment he'd been afraid that Naruto wanted to sleep in his bed. That would have been awkward and embarrassing, especially seeing as Sasuke had things in there he didn't want Naruto to see.

Like the assortment of pictures of the dobe he'd collected from Sakura - she'd had her faithful fan club girls take the shots for him. She'd told them that Sasuke was planning on doing something malicious to Naruto, and therefore needed as many pictures of the guy as he could get. It had been a flimsy excuse, but those girls would do just about anything if they thought that it would make Sasuke happy, and had been quite thorough of getting pictures for him. Sasuke even had a few shots of Naruto in the bathhouse. Did that make him gross and perverted? Because he was completely willing to be considered such if it meant he was able to check out Naruto's hot bod any time he wanted.

Sasuke kept the stash of pictures hidden under his mattress of course, (where else?), and he was terrified that anyone in his bedroom would immediately sniff them out. That was the price that came with guilt - the constant worry that someone was going to find out. Although by now, Sasuke was pretty much sure that he'd learned to live with it. Guilt was everywhere, when one was in love with one's best friend.

So, Sasuke left Naruto to his own devices in the living room, and headed for his bedroom to change. It was with his luck however, that halfway through undressing, the Uzumaki himself made his way sluggishly into the bedroom, and unceremoniously collapsed onto the bed. Sasuke felt his face go up in flames. "What are you doing?" he demanded in that infuriating squeak again.

Naruto laughed sleepily at Sasuke's quick attempts to cover himself. He yawned as he said, "You know, it's funny that everyone thinks you're such a badass. You're so modest it's almost embarrassing to _me_." He pressed his face into Sasuke's pillow, and inhaled deeply. "Have I ever told you that you smell really _good_? Honestly Sasuke I think Sakura has too much influence over you. Men just aren't supposed to smell like this."

Sasuke could have melted into a puddle on the floor. He tugged a fresh shirt on over his head - yes, a pajama shirt; he wasn't like the dobe, who just slept in his underwear. Which reminded him....

"Gah!" Sasuke's entire body went rigid, and he spun on his heels as Naruto promptly began to undress. Apparently the dobe had gotten so into the habit of sleeping with only his boxers on, that any time he even wanted to take a nap he was forced to strip. It was a learned habit - he simply couldn't fall into unconsciousness with his clothes on, short of someone knocking him out with drugs or something.

"C'mon Sasuke, just let me sleep in here this once. Look, I even saved enough room for you. C'mon." Sasuke's fists clenched at his sides, and he was working very, very hard to hold in the bursting nose bleed he felt coming on. Shirtless (not to mention pantless) Naruto was someone he could not deal with right now. "Oi, what's the matter with you? What? My being half naked actually _embarrasses _you?" Sasuke said nothing, and after a minute, Naruto scoffed. "Why do you gotta be like that Sasuke - we're both guys. Jeez."

Even Sasuke's ears were burning now. Naruto really did a job of throwing the Uchiha's nerves into the blender - he always managed to mess him up. It was maddening.

After another short minute, Sasuke heard said infuriating blonde boy huff loudly, and the sounds of the blankets moving against one another. "Look, I'm all covered up. Are you happy now? Can we just get some sleep please?"

As daring as he could be, Sasuke risked a glance over his shoulder, only to see the slightly comical sight of Naruto's blonde head poking out from beneath the red bed sheets. He really _was_ all covered up - bundled tightly into the sheets from the chin down. "Feh," Naruto scoffed, frowning at him. "Now pull the stick out of your ass and finish getting dressed Mrs. Ice Princess. You look like if you blush any harder you're going to start bleeding from the ears."

* * *

_**A/N: **Yes, I know that the storyline isn't going the way I described it in the summary - or at least, not yet. But oh, it will happen._


	2. Ah The Joys Of Loving An Idiot

_**A/N: **__Usually it doesn't take me this long to update with stories that I'm really attached to -- but I'm sort of trying out blatant humor in my story for once, and this is kind of like... an experiment. So far, I believe I'm not the greatest at it. I'm more of an angst writer. =/_

_What do you think?_

=Ah The Joys of Loving an Idiot=

* * *

So Sasuke had gotten his well-deserved birthday present after all -- sort of. Sure it was embarrassing as hell, and made it even harder to resist glomping and thoroughly raping the blonde boy, but sleeping in the same bed with shirtless pantless Naruto was more than worth it. The next day at school, Sasuke thought that Sakura's head was going to explode she was so anxious to know what had happened. She stormed her way over to Sasuke's locker, and the moment he retrieved his books, slammed the metal door in his face by way of announcing her presence. He jumped slightly. Sakura was a gossip fiend, without a doubt, and she was kind of scary whenever she was in the process of sniffing out good dirt on somebody.

"Why have you had your phone turned off?" she demanded, green eyes sharp and interrogating. "I've sent you like a thousand text messages!" She threw her arms up in exasperation.

Sakura's voice dropped to a low whisper when next she spoke, so that the people around wouldn't hear. "How did things go with Naruto? Did you tell him all about your angsty unrequited gay love? Did he swoon into your arms and such? And more importantly - did you two go back to his apartment to make hot n' sweaty man-lovin'? I'm dying here Sasuke, you-have-got-to-tell-me!" She shook his shoulders with every syllable, but Sasuke was too distracted by the mental images she had summoned inside his brain to really form a decent answer.

It was the sight of Naruto Uzumaki himself which snapped him out of it. The guy was popular. He was currently walking off somewhere down the hall, chatting happily with friends. Sasuke only caught a glimpse of him before that head of yellow hair disappeared into the crowd. "Uhh... maybe we should get to class," he muttered to Sakura.

"Nothing happened," he told her, once they were at their seats in Mr. Gardener's Advanced Calculus class. It was one of the less enjoyable class periods of the day, but then again, Sasuke was rather put out by the whole having to go to school thing anyway. The only thing he maybe might have enjoyed about the high school experience was the fact that he had two classes with and the same lunch period as Naruto. As vaguely mentioned before, their high school was a part of a certain state-wide program that teamed all it's students up into groups of three. Naruto and Sasuke were in the same group as Sakura - their's was Team 7 - and therefore, the three of them saw a lot of one another during the day.

"What do you mean nothing happened?" Sakura asked, green eyes hardening on his. "Why didn't you take the chance to sweep him off his feet? Show your everlasting devotion and declare your love? You were supposed to have ended up in blissful erotic happiness by taking him off to the Uchiha complex and showing him what it's like to be loved by another man."

Sasuke's face reddened deeply - the pink haired girl was momentarily having an impact on his image; Sasuke was never supposed to blush where people could see. His fangirls would have an undying fit. "You've really thought through the possibilities haven't you?" Forget the fact that he'd had the same ideas nearly to the very point when he'd found out that he'd have the chance to be around (what he'd hoped would be) a drunken Naruto.

"Tch, yeah! After I got over that killer hangover yesterday, it wasn't like I had anything better to do. Especially when you wouldn't answer your phone. Do you have any idea what kind of things I thought you might be busy doing?"

Sasuke cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. "I think you've made it quite clear _exactly_ what you thought we were doing Sakura. Does yaoi really turn you on that much?"

She grinned over at him, a certain light in her eyes that Sasuke was sure he'd seen at least a dozen times before. "Sasuke-kun, you have _no_ idea. If I'm going to be leader of the fangirls, and best friend to you, I at least deserve the right to shove you two morons together, and wring out every bit of the juicy details later on that I can. Just promise me that when you and Naruto eventually do get together, you'll let me videotape at least _one _of your make out sessions."

Sasuke kept his eyes downward, rifling through his bag for a distraction. It was then, thankfully, that the bell rang and class began, ending all embarrassing conversation until lunch at least.

* * *

Great. The school year would be over in less than three weeks, and all seniors were required to come up with a _"Graduation Goal."_ (Well, all the passing seniors anyway - the one's whose futures seemed promising. The failing students were the less likely to actually think something through like that anyway).

Of course, Sasuke had already set said goal for himself long before, when he'd realized his feelings for Naruto. He'd even told Sakura, their freshmen year, that he was determined to make the blonde dobe _his _before they graduated, and his pink haired friend had encouraged him on even through all these years. However, Sasuke wasn't exactly prepared to write the goal down on paper where people could actually _see_.

Not to mention the 'Graduation Goals' would be printed in the yearbook next to each of their pictures. The fact that he didn't have many friends gave Sasuke the relief of not having so many of his classmates asking him aloud what his goal might be, but there was no doubt about it that if he tried to keep it secret, his rabid fangirls would be on him in an instant.

And on top of _all_ that, there was Naruto to deal with. Sasuke had guessed that _he_ might ask - which, he did. For a reply Sasuke simply made up some vague excuse, shrugging the entire matter off by saying that he didn't know and he didn't care. It was just a tad bit ironic that the school system would specifically ask for something like that, when Sasuke had already made one up for himself oh so long ago.

"So what's your deal anyway?" Naruto asked, sitting in class with Sasuke and Sakura one day, about a week after the party at the bar. "You've been acting even more jittery than you usually do, _Sasu-chan_." Oh boy, did Naruto love to use that nickname against him. The fox boy had found the pet name so amusing, in fact, that it had stuck, and Sasuke was almost actually getting used to being called by it. Damn Sakura and her drunken idiosyncrasy.

"None of your business dobe," Sasuke scoffed lightly. "I guess... I'm just wound up about graduation." Well, it was more or less the truth.

Naruto frowned at him - it was the Uzumaki _I-don't-believe-you_ face. "Well, whatever. I actually did my paper this time, so I better go turn it in." With that, he stood, and made his way over to the desk at the front of the room where the teacher was taking up late homework assignments.

Nearly as soon as the dobe had his back turned, Sakura reached over and smartly bopped Sasuke on the head. "Ow. What was that for?" he demanded.

"Idiot! If you wanna make your move, you better do it fast! You've put off writing down your graduation goal long enough. Why don't you put down your _actual_ goal?"

"Are you crazy?" Sasuke hissed, trying to keep his voice down. He glanced about to make sure that no one was paying attention to their conversation. He eyed the large conspicuous plant behind them for a few moments, guessing that a fangirl or two was hiding behind it wearing camouflage and taking his picture - (that would explain the random flashes he kept seeing anyway). This, however embarrassing, was normal though, and Sasuke's attention was not diverted from Sakura for long. He leaned in closer to her, to whisper in her ear. At least it would make the fangirls jealous. "And have everyone in the school know that I have a gay crush on my best friend? Are you _trying_ to condemn me?"

"Oh, don't be such a drama queen," she replied in a whisper every bit as heated as his, and then rolling her eyes. Sometimes, the two of them could carry on a fight like nothing even a _Naruto_ and Sasuke fight could hold a candle to. It gave the fangirls whiplash - they didn't know whether to be more jealous of Sakura, or eternally pissed off at her. "You plan on getting Naruto soon anyway right? I mean, there's only _three weeks_ before graduation Sasuke. _Three. Weeks!_ The yearbook won't be released until the summer - as you well know - and _I _just so happen to be head of the yearbook committee. Nobody would even see it until the senior class is all scattered halfway 'round the world anyway!"

Sasuke's face flamed red, but more from anger than embarrassment. "I... I just can't do that Sakura. Besides, I don't _have_ to get him before the three weeks are up. I mean... technically graduation isn't for another four weeks... since the actual ceremony is delayed, you know." As he spoke, Sasuke's voice became more and more feeble, which in turn made him sound less and less convincing. To tell the honest-to-god truth, the thought of actually stepping up to the bat and confessing his love to Naruto scared the holy hell out of him -- and Sakura _knew _that.

Naruto was heading their way again. With a little frown, Sakura bopped Sasuke on the head again. He deserved it for being such a spineless timid Uchiha. She was determined -- he and Naruto _would_ get together, and they _would_ make sexy man loving with one another - she would see to it personally, even if she had to hold their hands and give them strict how-to instructions the entire way through.

"Hey Sasuke," the blonde said suddenly as he sat back at their table again. His eyes rolled skyward, and with that added innocent shade to his voice, Sasuke just _knew_ he wanted something.

Said Uchiha sighed heavily. "Yes, dobe?" he asked flatly. Dammit. He couldn't even bring himself to be rude to the guy. Naruto had a power of him, and the blonde boy had absolutely no idea.

Then again, maybe he did. The pleading eyes, the pouty look - Sasuke was being played with in the palm of his hands (and not in the literal sense either - _that_ actually would have been quite enjoyable). Who in the hell had enough balls to refuse those longing blue eyes? Damn Naruto and his infuriating ability to claim the victory over him every time - Sasuke was won over before the request had even been made. "I need a tutor," the blonde boy said simply, in that half-pleading voice of his.

* * *

So, Naruto was a bit of an idiot - even Sasuke could see that. How unknowing he had been, when classifying his fellow classmates into the ones he believed to be 'passing' and the ones to be 'failing', how far it really was that Naruto swayed more over toward the 'failing' side. Really, Sasuke should have guessed. Naruto was loud and popular, he never had homework to turn in, and he seemed particularly stressed out during test time. However, in his own mind, Sasuke had just taken it as a given that Naruto would be graduating with him - the two of them would always be in the same boat as one another, for better or worse (no pun intended).

At the moment though, Sasuke definitely wasn't complaining. Tutoring Naruto meant spending more time with Naruto - much more time, as it was. Lucky for Sasuke that Naruto _was _an idiot, otherwise he might not be able to keep him in one place for so long. And he'd already decided that every time Naruto's mind started to wander (depending on what sorts of things he seemed to be pondering) or whenever Naruto decided he had something more important to do, Sasuke would innocently and effectively bait him with the "you want to graduate, don't you?"

He should have known that things would not be as simple as that. After all - this was Naruto, and Sasuke. Naruto had a tendency of making things complicated, and Sasuke had a tendency of relenting to Naruto's every will.

The first "tutoring" session went decidedly not-so-well. Sasuke hadn't needed Sakura's previous observation that tutoring sessions alone with Naruto for long periods of time could lead to more interesting things. Although, he really hadn't deserved the nosebleed she'd given him on account of the much-detailed description of Sasuke being Naruto's "school teacher" and "disciplining him whenever the chance presented itself." Really, Sakura was one of the most self-confident pervs that Sasuke had ever met (aside from Naruto of course), and Sasuke wasn't sure if he should commend his friend for her advice, or be frightened of her.

Still, Sakura should have known that Sasuke didn't have the balls to step up and be a naughty "school teacher." As Sakura would put it (in the well versed terms of yaoi), Sasuke was the 'uke.' Sasuke himself wasn't sure that he liked the idea so much, but he couldn't exactly sit and contemplate on it, because any type of mindset with 'Naruto' and 'sex' in it were bound to give him severe nosebleeds, and therefore, thoroughly distract and embarrass him. Sasuke strayed away from those thoughts whenever he could.

"Jeez, this whole learning thing is boring as _hell_," Naruto finally exploded with frustration.

"Imagine that," Sasuke replied crisply. Honestly he was surprised that Naruto's attention span had lasted this long - it had been nearly a full thirty minutes, the blonde fox boy was practically _known_ for his ADD tendencies. Then again it was still only just the first day - whatever little determination Naruto had to actually learn from him would probably dwindle quickly from this point. As if to prove his thinking, the Kyuubi container got up from the couch, and idly began flipping through Sasuke's movie collection.

Sasuke himself sighed inwardly. This was about the time when he was supposed to pull the whole innocent "you want to graduate, don't you?" ploy from his pocket. Sasuke opened his mouth to say the words, mustering up all the pretend annoyance he usually reserved for other people, and-- chickened out at the last minute. Instead, a faint brush of pink touched his cheeks, and he tiredly asked, "What are you doing?"

Apparently it was absolutely impossible for him to stand up to his dobe, even in the most subtle ways. How frustrating.

"Looking for something good to watch while you teach me stuff," Naruto replied absently. He paused for a moment, glancing at the back of one DVD case, brow furrowed in an irresistibly cute kind of way. Sasuke took the silent moment to admire his friend's face. The smooth, soft looking cheeks, and the three stripes of birthmarks that marred each side. Sasuke had always had a secret urge to reach out and trace those marks with his fingers, and had once or twice managed to catch himself before doing so without thinking.

Naruto was attractive, there was no doubt about that. Sasuke wasn't sure why he'd been attracted to the guy when they were young, because Naruto had used to be a complete and total idiot, and a klutz, even more so than he was now. Sure he'd been cute - in an immature, childish kind of way, but now....

"Jeez Sasuke, don't you have any porn?"

Yep. Leave it to Uzumaki Naruto to ruin any semblance of a 'moment.'

Porn. The dobe actually wanted to watch _porn_ while they studied.

After a few minutes of Sasuke's prolonged silence, Naruto finally glanced over to see what was amiss with the raven. "Oh," the blonde boy said understandingly. The 'oh' was for Sasuke's blazing face -- damn the pale skin he'd inherited as an Uchiha; it only made blushes that much more noticeable on him.

"What am I thinking?" Naruto mumbled to himself, half sardonically. "You blush at the very _mention_ of porn - there's no way you'd keep any at your house." With a melodramatic, heavy sigh as if he were suffering from an extreme disappointment, Naruto made his way back over to the couch, and promptly began digging through his bag. "You know, I bet you wouldn't even last a full 30 minutes of soft core porn without your head just... exploding. Aha! Not to worry."

Suddenly Naruto wrenched out a magazine form the disastrous mess that was the inside of his schoolbag, a landslide of crumpled papers spilling out onto the floor, and tossed the thing atop the textbooks spread out across the table. "Light entertainment," he explained with a foxy grin, and picked the thing up to rummage though it's sexually explicit X-rated pages.

For Sasuke, seeing the cover of it was enough, and he quickly smacked himself lightly on the forehead, trying hard not to be overcome by the heat of intense blushing. "Do you realize that's two men on the front?" he asked quietly, head down in his embarrassment. Really, why did Naruto feel the need to do these kinds of things to him? It was totally and completely uncalled for -- and hard on Sasuke's nerves in more than just one way.

He glanced up once to measure Naruto's reaction to what he'd said for any sign of disgust, but the blonde merely glanced at the front cover and said, "Huh. So it is."

Well, at least he didn't seem to be completely averse to the whole gay thing. That was a _little _helpful toward Sasuke's case. He'd have something to tell Sakura when she interrogated him later anyway. Sasuke had this dreadful feeling that his pink haired friend was going to become increasingly difficult over the next three weeks - she'd always been a little impatient at Sasuke's hesitance toward Naruto, and that impatience had only ever gotten worse.

"Hey," Naruto said suddenly. "Think Itachi left some stash behind somewhere? I don't remember the dude very well, but he seemed like the kinda guy who would watch porn. Might be scary though - his tastes are probably a little extreme." He laughed like he'd made a good joke.

Sasuke, on the other hand, stayed silent at that, and all hopes he'd had of gaining the courage to confess this day were rather abruptly lost. A sick sort of feeling twisted in his gut at the mention of his brother, and Sasuke rubbed at his temple, wishing that Sakura and her magic stash of Tylenol would randomly appear. "That's not funny," he said quietly, and Naruto immediately sobered up.

One of the better things about the blonde boy, however confusing and irritating it could be at times, was that he had the ability to switch easily from playfulness to seriousness, and vice versa. "Hey, I'm sorry man. I didn't really mean it - you know that. I'm stupid. I should know better than to joke about stuff like that, but I guess I just never learn my lesson, huh? I _was_ only joking."

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed, clearing his throat a little. "Yeah. It's fine. Just forget about it." He leaned over toward the mass of papers and textbooks piled up on the table between them, in order to point out something about the problem he and the dobe had previously been working on. Unfortunately for Sasuke, as he scrambled for the words he needed to say, he just kept drawing a blank -- with the memory of Itachi's face in his mind.

He was shocked out of his silent nightmare when a tanned hand placed itself lightly upon his own pale one. Glancing up in surprise and blushing like mad, onyx colored eyes met deep blue ones -- Naruto was leaning in _much_ closer than Sasuke had noticed, and the blonde boy abruptly cracked a smile.

Oh dear Kami-sama. Had the heavens split open and struck him down with a fateful lightning bolt? Because at the moment Sasuke was feeling very much as though he'd been thoroughly electric shocked -- and then _that's_ where the aforementioned teenage hormones came into play again. It took everything he had to swallow down the urge to jump Naruto from across the table and start ripping his clothes off. Really, Sasuke's ability to swing from timid unease to wild and lustful self-confidence was staggeringly amazing. It happened at the most unexpected of times, and always managed to catch him off guard. Probably it was something developed out of Naruto's influence - the blonde boy had the stamina and self-confidence of something almost inhuman.

And Naruto was speaking, of which Sasuke was only vaguely aware because he watched intently as the curve of those soft lips began to move. Again he was abruptly snapped out of it, but this time it was by Naruto playfully saying, "_I _could strip for you if you want. We could just make our own porno, y'know. Personally I find that much more interesting that just _watching_." Naruto watched closely as the effects of his words flitted clearly across Sasuke's features, and by the time he was finished speaking, there was a devilish fox-like smile on his face, and a wreck of conflicting emotions playing havoc with Sasuke's suddenly dumbfounded brain.

"Okie dokie then," Naruto said happily, and jumped to his feet to begin the removing of his clothes. His school uniform shirt was halfway up over his head when Sasuke actually regained sense enough to stop him.

"What?" the raven exclaimed, his voice reaching up to those particularly unpleasant high tones again. "No!" he shouted, and frantically began struggling to pull Naruto's shirt back down, while the blonde boy himself struggled against him to tug it the rest of the way off. All in all, all they managed to do was rather effectively begin to suffocate the dobe with his own clothing. Eventually Naruto began to laugh, which was really not the smartest thing to do when one was gasping for breath already.

"'Kay, I give up!" the blonde finally relented, and awkward as their position already was, of _course_ they would lose their balance when suddenly Naruto was pulling his shirt back down, rather than counteracting Sasuke by pulling it up. Sasuke's shins had been digging against the edge of the coffee table that was still between them, and being shorter than Naruto, he'd been leaning way over in order to get to the said offending piece of clothing. It shouldn't have been surprising when suddenly he sprawled forward and knocked the dobe back on the couch. It _shouldn't_ have been surprising when he ended up directly in Naruto's lap. If Sasuke could think properly at a time like that, he would have found the situation strikingly ironic.

As it was, he found himself face-to-face with a widely grinning blue eyed dobe, and nothing of Sasuke could function quite properly in _that_ position. Naruto, of course, was completely and naively unaffected by it. "I was just kidding with you again, Sasuke. But hey it got your mind off your brooding for a minute didn't it?"

Sasuke said nothing, just continued to stare. "Oi. Sasuke. Breathe teme. Your face is turning purple." At those words, Sasuke remembered quite suddenly that, oh yes, he had lungs didn't he? And breathing was quite necessary. Was that what the burning sensation in his chest was - oxygen deprived lungs screaming at him? Probably.

He let out an explosive breath, and quickly scrambled off of the dobe. It was not good for the two of them to be in such close proximity of the other (for Sasuke's health and sanity, mostly) -- not good at all.

"I'm starved," Naruto said suddenly, still completely impassive about what had just happened. "You've got ramen don't you?" He grinned the famous Uzumaki grin before making his way over to Sasuke's kitchen.

Sasuke grumbled quietly under his breath. Of _course_ he had ramen - he didn't particularly like it himself, but it was the dobe's favorite food. He always kept at least one cup of it his house, at all times.

* * *

Sasuke should have known the moment he'd agreed to become Naruto's much needed tutor, that his life would become increasingly more difficult from then on. He'd once fancied that having the dobe over more often would be a good thing, but somehow Sasuke managed to find it only embarrassing and inconveniencing. He'd been forced to buy more ramen of course - like, bagfuls of the stuff - and the worst part about it was all the shirts that were ruined due to the damned nosebleeds he got so often with the dobe around. Naruto was the epitome of naughty sex jokes and playful, lascivious teasing.

And on top of all _that_ - which was more than enough for Sasuke to deal with anyway - he had become completely and irrevocably convinced that Naruto was _infuriatingly_ impossible to teach. The dobe managed to distract Sasuke with nearly as much ease as he distracted himself. Most of the time it was because of the detailed accounts he enjoyed giving of his favorite graphic pornography videos, and the occasional threat to strip for the other guy again. He'd whistle or hum those damn catchy holiday Christmas songs at the most inappropriate of times, and had to have a cup of ramen in front of him almost constantly. Sasuke was almost positive that a diet like that was unhealthy.

Naruto wouldn't listen to anything Sasuke tried to tell him that had anything to do with schoolwork, and sometimes he'd reach for the remote and flip on the Disney Channel or something. That day after the first tutoring session, he'd insisted on staying the night and forcing the raven to watch the damned High School Musical marathon with him. When it came to giving Naruto what he wanted, however, somewhere around _there_ was where Sasuke drew the line, and he'd rather rudely shoved his friend right out the front door.

In the middle of a serious conversation about work, when Naruto actually seemed to be paying a scant amount of attention, the dobe would call Sasuke by those favorite, maddening nicknames of his. "Sasu-chan," or "brooding Ice Princess," "Mr. Bitchy Asexual" -- and whenever Sasuke begged him to be serious, Naruto quickly agreed and opted to playfully call him "Sasuke-sensei" instead. The dobe was a never ending thesaurus of irritating, idiotic nicknames.

It was only the third day that the blonde would be coming over, and Sasuke was already at the frayed end of his rope. Being in close range of such a decidedly uncooperative Naruto for so long a time was reaching way up high on the Uchiha-stress-scale limit. This time, Naruto had managed to show up all hopped up on those Monster Energy Shots he seemed to be so fond of, and was very literally jumping up and down in his seat. And he kept bursting into random verses of that song _"I called her on the phone and she touched herself...." _Sasuke swore that the dobe was doing it to annoy him.

At one point, Naruto's cell phone went off - loudly announcing the receiving of a text message with the Star Wars theme song music, no less - and once the blonde became aware that the thing existed again, he spent the rest of the afternoon messing with his ringtones on Sasuke's couch. After a while he began playing that game where the snake chases its tail, and cursed with a needless amount of ferocity every time he lost.

When finally things had quieted down once more, and Sasuke was rifling through the papers (which he had still had absolutely no help with), frustration was really building him his way up to the breaking point. In the silence, he was very much aware of the pair of bright blue eyes that were upon him, and Sasuke blushed but otherwise refused to acknowledge it.

And so, Naruto did what he did best (as mentioned before). He continued to nag at him until Sasuke spared him his attention.

"Ah my beautifully bashful Uchiha," the dobe sighed in a falsely wistful tone. "My shy, sweet lil' bundle of love. My moody, PMSing, intimidating Mrs. Ice Princess...." He kept on for as long as possible, idly playing with different combinations of the words 'moody,' 'shy,' and 'brooding.'

_That_ was where the dobe finally managed to hit a nerve on Sasuke's snapping point. The raven got to his feet and tossed all the papers that _he_ alone had worked so hard on, scattering them all around the table and on the floor in favor of flinging them right into the irritating blonde boy's face. Probably, he wouldn't have had the heart to do something like that if he'd tried it anyway.

Sasuke sighed in exasperation, but his anger left him nearly as quickly as it had come on. "I give up," he whined tiredly, sinking back into his seat. "I _can't_ tutor you Naruto. It's like Mission Impossible."

Light blue eyes shined with amusement and surprise. Naruto whistled quietly between his teeth. "That's a first. I was wondering when you were gonna snap, but I don't think I've ever annoyed you enough to piss you off _that_ much before. It's officially a new record, don't you think?" Sasuke attempted a glare, but only managed a rather pathetic sort of sulky look.

Naruto grinned again. "You know, you're really cute when you pout."

And it was then that Sasuke was struck with a sense of abrupt stupidity and helplessness. Situational irony, the gods toying with his emotions - call it what you will; Sasuke felt completely robbed of all his confidence and sensibility. He stared blankly at his friend/obsession, mouth gaping open slightly, completely mind-blown by the abruptness of the moment.

"I have to tell you something," he said honestly, and hadn't realized up until that point how true those words really were.


	3. How To Fall In Love With A Dobe 101

=How To Fall In Love With A Dobe 101=

* * *

It was inevitable that as soon as the words were out of Sasuke's mouth, both his _and_ Naruto's cell phones would ring - loud Star Wars theme clashing terribly with 'Victims of Love' by Good Charlotte. "Delayed text from Sakura," the blonde murmured, flipping open his phone. Still shaking from the nerves with the confession he hadn't gotten the chance to say, Sasuke reached for his own and glanced down at the number.

Speak of the devil and she will appear - it was Sakura. Thoroughly annoyed by his pink haired interruption, he hit the 'on' button and pressed the receiver to his ear. "What?" he asked with a grimace.

"Sasuke-kun, you have to come quick - Naruto's apartment is...!" The last of her words were drowned out by Naruto's own loud exclamation of "HOLY SHIT MY APARTMENT'S ON FIRE!"

* * *

You know, Sasuke hadn't _always_ been so introverted. Once upon a time, before the massacre of his family, he'd been an ordinary (albeit still angst filled) little kid. He used to go get ice cream with Itachi, cling to his mother, and it had taken an especially long time to break him from his pacifier - a fact which now embarrassed him whenever, for some random reason he was reminded of it.

Sasuke had actually met Naruto Uzumaki for the first time just two days before his family was killed, though he'd forgotten about the encounter for a long time afterward, since he'd been so traumatized by Itachi's betrayal. Nevertheless, Sasuke eventually remembered, and afterward, his attraction toward Naruto had been subtle and gradual at first.

Sasuke supposed that when he though about it, he should have seen the 'signs' of his questionable sexuality growing up. The biggest influence over that part of his life had been his brother, who'd enjoyed painting his nails and dressing him up in their mothers clothing whenever he could get away with it.

The very first time he met Naruto, Sasuke was wandering on his own after school. He'd been unwilling to go home right away because, well, every small kid has the irrational urge to rebel against their parents if they know they can get away with it. He wasn't really thinking about one thing in particular at the time - if he had been, he couldn't recall it now. Suddenly, he'd seen the flash of bright yellow hair like he'd never seen before, as a miniature version of the dobe that was Naruto Uzumaki ran past, grinning wildly. Sasuke, not having the sharingan at the time, has whipped his head around, but had been unable to keep up with the blonde's movements - there was no sign of that yellow hair again anywhere.

That was when suddenly a mob (or at least, what seemed a mob to a very small Sasuke Uchiha at the time) of angry men went running past as well, cursing loudly and yelling for somebody to wait. And even though Sasuke hadn't known Naruto's name at the time, he'd somehow known that the one they were calling for had been the boy with that shockingly blonde hair.

So, acting on complete impulse, Sasuke decided to get himself involved in the situation. He wanted to rebel, remember? Besides, he was _sure_ that he could find that blonde boy easier than those stupid adults could. Sasuke knew people his age. It would be easy.

He turned to walk in the direction that that blonde streak had gone, at a much slower pace than the angry mob of men, stopping to look rather than rushing past all the good hiding spots. The thing about adults - when they chased someone, they didn't really consider the fact that there were many more places that a small child could hide, as opposed to other adults. Sasuke glanced into a nearby alleyway, and promptly walked over to the Dumpster there, and opened the lid. When he peered inside, he found shockingly blue eyes - nearly every bit as shocking as the yellow hair - peering right back at him.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, simply curious. Of course he didn't really think it all that strange that the boy was hiding in a Dumpster - it was just a matter of course.

"Shh!" the blonde said insistently, and took a moment to glance around the outside of his hiding place. "Get in!" he whispered, lifting the lid a little higher for Sasuke.

And of course Sasuke, being the kid that he was, simply glanced around before climbing up into the trash collector himself. "Jeez," the blonde had huffed, and his impatience was disdain for Sasuke's awkward clambering.

Once safely inside, the chibi Uchiha scrunched his nose in disgust. "Ew," he said. Now that the lid was shut, only a dim crack of light shown in on the two of them, and Sasuke found himself a bit smothered by the heavy smell of garbage. "So why were those guys chasing you?" he asked, not bothering to whisper now.

"Shh... I took _this_." And Naruto pulled out a folded paper from inside his orange jacket, and unfolded it to reveal a provocative shot of a woman in a bikini, tanned skin shimmering suggestively. (Because, yes, even as a seven year old, Naruto had been a slight bit of a perv, and yes, even then Naruto had worn _orange_).

Sasuke stared down at the poster for a moment, perfectly oblivious as to why the other boy would want something like that. "Why would you steal something like _that_?" he asked honestly, scrunching his nose up a little again. What was so special about a woman in a bathing suit?

And that was the infamous first meeting of Sasuke and Naruto -- not that Sasuke had remembered it until much, much later. It was true that he and Naruto attended the same school, but not even the recognizable blonde hair and bright blue eyes could jog his memory once they eventually had an actual class together. By that time, Sasuke had gone through far too much to remember those small sort of things that had happened during happier times.

When had it happened? When had he noticed Naruto again? When had he fallen in love with the dobe?

There wasn't a distinctive point in time that he could remember. He'd had classes with Naruto, he'd known of Naruto, and Naruto had been very loud and very annoying for a _very_ long time. It was around the time of their first year in middle school, and Sasuke had been nervous and jittery about attending school in a new building, with older kids. Being nervous usually made him more aware, and it just seemed like one day he happened to realize that he paid an awful lot of attention to the other boy. Slowly, but surely, the realization came to him that there was _something_ about Naruto - something that stirred Sasuke, making him sad and wanting to laugh all at the same time.

It had taken a year or two to realize just how deep that '_something_' of his went. As mentioned before, Sasuke was very much aware of the fact that he was crazily and helplessly in love with Naruto by the time that he and Sakura became friends. Another good point about having the pink haired girl for a friend was the fact that, at the time, Sakura had had Naruto wrapped around her finger. As much as she wanted Sasuke for herself, and as much as she had known that Naruto wanted _her_, she had talked to the blonde boy for him, had pointed Sasuke out.

That was when Naruto's irrational anger had flared, and the blonde declared that he and Sasuke were to be rivals. Sasuke himself hadn't been sure if he should be more depressed or incredulous at that. What had he really done to deserve something like _that_ from a guy who'd never paid any attention to him before?

Life had been hell for Sasuke after that - or would have been, if Naruto's persistent attempts at sizing him up had not made him feel so important. The blonde was finally _noticing_ him and paying attention to him for once - even if it was out of supposed hate, Sasuke was alright with that. Besides, Naruto's struggles to 'beat' him had been _quite _amusing.

The First Attempt

Naruto's initial plan had been to sneak something nasty into Sasuke's ramen - but that idea had been thrown out the window when he'd made the _appalling_ discovery that Sasuke didn't eat ramen. (Sasuke had learned all this later on, from Sakura). So, apparently Sasuke's 'blasphemous' act against ramen had angered the blonde boy even more, and he'd decided to go to the extremes.

It had started with a prank phone call, which _would_ have freaked Sasuke out - had he not heard what had sounded like a bunch of snickering in the background. A few days later, when he'd gotten the full scoop from Sakura, his pink haired friend had told him that Naruto had had their classmates Kiba and Shikimaru helping him out with the devilish plan that night. See, Naruto had still been absolutely smitten with the Haruno girl back then, and would have spilled his guts out to her about _anything_.

About an hour after the phone call, Sasuke's power abruptly went out. Too bad for Naruto, Sasuke was a genius - although, it didn't really take a genius to go out to the fuse box and flip the switches back on.

The Second Attempt(s?)

For a while - seeing as Naruto was none too clever when it came to things like devilishly sneaky plans - the fox boy simply reverted to tired old childish pranks. Spit wads, paper balls, tying ropes across the hallway floor so that Sasuke might trip... you name it. He tried every trick in the book, and somehow stupidly managed to never quite catch Sasuke off guard. It was comical really - and once the fangirls found out about it....

Well, let's just say that Naruto came to school the next day looking as if he'd been mauled by a large angry animal, and all his little shenanigans had stopped rather abruptly after that.

The Third Attempt

For those who believe the clichéd line "third time's the charm" -- they're wrong. Unless you consider Naruto's entire plan completely backfiring and thoroughly embarrassing him as 'charming.' The entire affair was quite amusing, even to Sasuke, who was nearly stressed to his limit at this point, despite all the attention he was getting from his dobe (albeit _negative_ attention...).

Apparently the blonde's plan had been to _literally_ bait Sasuke with porn -- which would explain the randomly placed naughty magazine he'd found lying at the foot of his locker one day, attached to a clearly visible string. He'd stared rather incredulously when the string pulled, and the magazine scooted about a foot away before stopping again. Sasuke's eyes tried to follow the thin string, in hopes of seeing who or what was at the other end of it, but through the crowd of students filing in there was no chance of seeing the source of it from where he was standing.

The magazine pulled a little more, as if taunting him, and a few people were stopping to stare as well by then, with expressions every bit as confused (and some of them amused) as his was. Finally the magazine took off at full speed, and, shutting his locker, Sasuke followed the thing. He was drawn to it out of simple curiosity, though he carefully made sure to keep his eyes off of the graphic pictures covering the front of it.

People stopped to stare, some laughing a little, as he walked at a leisurely pace, trailing along behind the speeding pornography. Really, it was not as if he had much trouble discerning in which direction the thing had gone - it left a clear path through the crowd of suddenly very confused people every time it zipped by. That's when Sakura came into the picture. "Sasuke-kun?" she had asked. Like everyone else around, She had seen the magazine that had sped past, and was now glancing up to see her angsty friend following unhurriedly after it. His face had been screwed up in determination and slight bewilderment, and with that look, she immediately knew that something was up.

"Did you see...?" she asked, trailing off and pointing the way the thing had gone.

"It was at my locker," he said flatly, still walking along as the pink haired girl stepped up with him. "Then it just... began to.... Hey. Where'd it go?"

The path in the now laughingly bemused crowd had closed up, and for a moment, absolutely Sasuke was positive that they had just lost the thing, when suddenly Sakura shouted, "Follow that porn!" and dashed off after it.

Staring after her, perplexed, Sasuke let out a low chuckle and kept on walking. The day was turning out to be eventful, if nothing else.

Eventually, at the end of the rainbow (so-to-speak) they found a sulky looking Naruto Uzumaki, being thoroughly chewed out by an angry Iruka-sensei, who happened to be holding the now confiscated magazine as if it were a snake that might suddenly decide to bite. No one else would probably think it, but Sasuke had always been rather fond of his middle school teacher, Iruka. The man was as bashful as Sasuke pretended not to be, and he had sometimes spent some time alone with Sasuke, either after school or during those times whenever the Uchiha refused to join in with whatever the rest of the class was doing. Iruka, unlike the other teachers however, had never been pressing or overbearing at all. He'd just smiled and talked about simple things, and in some short moments of deep insight, had given Sasuke small pieces of advice that the Uchiha would not soon forget.

Anyway, Naruto had never really explained exactly what he'd planned to do after the whole 'baiting' bit - not even to Sakura, who'd pleaded with her womanly ways. That was alright though -- the dobe had been being clever, and that was a scary thing when it came to the hyperactive Naruto Uzumaki.

There had been this once, some time after they'd first started high school, when Sasuke had made his _own_ attempt at settling things. He'd decided on it - he would gather up the guts, and have a serious talk with Naruto. He'd try to get the dobe to see that there was really no reason for the two of them to be so-called 'rivals,' and that still claiming to be so was ridiculous. Mostly he did it out of Sakura's insistence, because without her there shoving his own weaknesses down his throat every time he turned around, he probably wouldn't have even _considered_ it.

Sasuke had had no trouble at all in catching Naruto alone. Though the blonde still constantly claimed, vehemently and unreasonably loudly, that he hated Sasuke, the two of them had still managed to spend an awful lot of time with each other back then. It was odd, and somewhat contradicting, but they were on the same "team" as one another, and so they were pushed together often. On this particular day, Sakura had feigned a sprained ankle so that she could escape to the nurse's office, and leave the two alone together. You know, she still sometimes claimed that Sasuke "owed her one" for that, because at her false cries of pain, that weird guy Rock Lee had burst in with some strange, drawn-out monologue about the 'springtime of youth' and 'the tragedies that befall us all.' He'd _then_ proceeded by carrying Sakura bridal-style all the way to the nurse himself.

However, once the two of them _were _alone, Sasuke's plans went awry just as quickly and smoothly as Naruto's had. He'd _tried_ talking to the dobe - but then Naruto had kept interrupting and needlessly insulting him. Eventually Sasuke had just ended up blurting out "I give up!" He'd relented to Naruto (though technically he'd never been against the guy in the first place), saying "you win," because he'd thought that that was what the Kyuubi boy _wanted_. He'd thought it would at least satisfy him somewhat. But instead Naruto had then begun accusing Sasuke of "being a prick" and "playing mind games." So, Naruto had continued to hate him, and from that day onward Sasuke'd refused to let Sakura talk him into doing anything else - no matter _how_ guilty she made him feel.

Needless to say though, things had become much less interesting the day way into their sophomore year, when Naruto had finally given up the ghost on trying to 'beat' Sasuke. After he'd finally had his big epiphany about Sasuke's true nature(his shyness), the blonde boy had found it much more amusing to tease him - rather similarly to the way he _still_ teased him.

And though Sasuke had valiantly survived the countless number of attempts Naruto had tried to catch him off guard, whenever the dobe began to act like _that_, there wasn't any way the raven could have avoid blushing and sometimes even stuttering. (Thank Kami-sama that he'd eventually grown out of the stuttering bit - for a while he'd been much like that Hinata girl, who'd secretly had that damn crush on Naruto forever).

Throughout the years, and somewhere along the line of Naruto's playful teasing, the two of them had eventually fallen into a strange level of comfort with one another. Things were no longer quite as tense whenever Naruto was in Sasuke's presence, and one day the Kyuubi boy even admitted aloud to Sasuke's face that he considered him as a friend. Maybe even a best friend.

Sasuke had been so... ridiculously happy at that. Without really thinking, his 'bad boy' act had slipped (not that it didn't do that enough around Naruto anyway) and he'd _smiled_. The first real genuine smile out of him that Naruto had claimed ever to see. And, unable to resist something pure like that, Naruto had smiled _back_. The memory of it still sent shivers up Sasuke's spine - the day he and Naruto had sealed their friendship with smiles like that. It was kind of embarrassing, but... sweet somehow, too. Whenever he was with Naruto, Sasuke could get a taste of happiness again - what it was like for things to be simple, and casual, and to be decidedly less angst-filled.

Probably things would have been much better for the both of them, if only Sasuke's feelings had _stopped_ at friendship. But by that time, Sasuke had already known for so long how he _really_ felt about the blonde boy, and there simply wasn't any denying it. Naruto was Sasuke's sun - his warmth, his happiness. Even when the dobe did stupid things, embarrassed him, made him mad or made him jealous, he was irresistible. Sasuke just couldn't get enough of him. It was infuriating, and... addicting, somehow.

And that was it. Falling in love with a dobe; it really wasn't all that difficult. It was dealing with that love that was the tricky part, and the whole confession thing that was even the trickier.

* * *

"Sakura..." Naruto growled, blue eyes burning with an intensity that Sasuke hadn't seen in them for a while. They were on the doorstep of Naruto's decidedly not-on-fire apartment, and the dobe was now clenching the post-it note that had been on the door tightly in his fist. It had read:

_'Just kidding. Needed to get your attention. Meet me at the bridge._

_-Sakura :)'_

And while Naruto seethed with fury, Sasuke wondered what the hell Sakura thought that she was playing at. Obviously, it was nothing good, and unfortunately for the two boys involved, Sakura's plans were usually the ones that actually _worked_ most of the time. Sasuke gulped, hard. Somehow, he just knew he was in for a ride.


	4. Tricked, By A Pink Haired Devil

=Tricked, By A Pink Haired Devil=

* * *

Of course, it didn't take long to get to the bridge in which the three of them had become so familiar. It was their ordinary meeting place, on days when they all wanted to hang out outside of school. As it happened though, and it was rather expected, the place was decidedly deserted of any familiar looking pink haired girl. Naruto stomped around in a fury, while Sasuke simply stood, trying to puzzle it out. Why would Sakura want him and Naruto to be alone together on the bridge like this? Had she planned out some big elaborate plot to get the two of them together? More than likely Sakura hadn't been kidding when she'd said that she'd "shove the two of them together" if she had to. She just wasn't the type to say things like lightly, not with such a note of determination in her voice like there had been.

And, as Sasuke and Naruto were unfortunate enough to discover, Sakura had really thought things through. Obviously she had been waiting in ambush, silently watching them, waiting in secret for the most opportune moment. Suddenly, there was a rough shove to Sasuke's shoulder, and as he went tumbling over the side of the bridge, he was only vaguely aware of the fact that Naruto was falling too. It was a short drop, and suddenly Sasuke's stomach lurched as apparently the ground heaved up under him and threw he and Naruto into the air, shoving the two of them together.

It took a long sort of moment for Sasuke's brain to really register what had happened. In reality, he and his dobe had been caught by the net rope that had obviously been waiting for them over the edge of the bridge. Then the corners of that net had been pulled up together, roughly pinning the raven and the fox together into a cramped space.

And so Sasuke found himself in the very awkward and extremely uncomfortable position of being squished up against Naruto, who, by the way, still looked like he was having trouble figuring out what was going on. Sasuke's face was smooshed uncomfortably into Naruto's chest, and for the sake of his nose, the only thing he could really concentrate on at first was getting the blonde boy to lift up off of him a bit. He pushed lightly on Naruto's chest until, finally, the dobe seemed to realized what he wanted, and shifted a little until he and Sasuke were in a slightly more upright position.

It wasn't until _then_, with the blood rushing up to his head, that Sasuke realized exactly what kind of predicament he was really in. Naruto - _his_ Naruto, his dobe, his obsession and absolute infatuation - was practically on top of him, and their faces were very, very close. When Sasuke tried to put his head down in embarrassment, he ended up against Naruto's chest again, and the blonde's scent filled his nostrils, which in turn overwhelmed his poor nerves and made his head swim dangerously.

Blue eyes stared down at him in utter, dumbfounded shock at the sudden situation the two of them were in.

The silent moment of discomfort and surprise was interrupted by the sound of giggling, and a remarkably familiar voice saying, "Yes! We bagged 'em!"

The two boys struggled to see around one another, as their roped enclosure swung and twisted back and fourth in a sickening sort of way. Sasuke knew that they were not that high up in the air, really - the net was hanging from a rope, skillfully wrapped around the branch and trunk of a nearby tree. Still, his stomach was lurching a bit; he wasn't all too fond of heights, and the thought of falling scared him, whether they were very high up or not.

Three happily grinning girls were staring up at them from the bridge. "Hi guys!" Sakura called laughingly. The sickening tone of _happy_ in her voice was nearly as nauseating as the way the ropes swung.

Ino and Tenten stood to either side of the pink haired girl, each of them looking quite pleased with themselves, with smug grins and victory in their eyes. "Sakura!" Naruto shouted suddenly. "What the _hell_?! First you tell me my apartment's on fire when it's _not_, and now _this _shit? What the _hell_?! ...Let us down!"

"Nope! Sorry, no can do boys." Ino laughed as the other girl stuck her tongue out playfully, and Tenten hopped down from the bridge to collect Naruto's cell phone, which must have slipped out of his pocket sometime during the fall.

"Shit," Naruto cursed quietly, and his breath fanned Sasuke's face, nearly pushing the raven overboard. He _really_ hoped that Naruto couldn't feel the way that the situation was effecting his crotch currently. If that happened, Sasuke wouldn't need to worry about confessing.

"You two need to _talk._" It wasn't until Ino's voice reached him that Sasuke realized Naruto had been shouting over at the girls again. Obviously, his new demands had had as little effect as the first ones had.

And what the hell did she mean the two of them needed to _talk_? Mouth turned downward in a worried frown, Sasuke glanced over the dobe to look straight at Sakura. She had _told_? She had told Ino and Tenten about his crush on Naruto? The pink haired girl gave him an apologetic, reassuring smile, and Sasuke wasn't sure what to think about that. Had she told them or not?

Sasuke had already pretty much figured out Sakura's intentions. She had simply wanted to force the he and Naruto together into an awkward situation, where she figured that eventually words would _have_ to be spoken between them. Maybe she meant well - maybe she was trying to help Sasuke. Obviously she had wanted to throw them into a position where touching was impossible to avoid as well - probably hoping for some sort of accidental sexual arousing, which was working on Sasuke's part anyway. Quickly he assessed that Sakura could _not_ had pulled this off on her own. She'd needed someone to shove Naruto, someone to shove Sasuke, and someone to pull the rope. She'd needed the extra help that the two other girls had provided.

Still, the possibility of her betrayal stung. if she had given away his secret, one of his _biggest_ secrets, it would be difficult to forgive her later.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Naruto demanded, and Sasuke blushed at the way his body shifted against his own. "What's there to talk about?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out," Sakura chimed somewhat childishly. Then she turned, and curtly began to make her way across the bridge, Tenten and Ino giving each other a high-five as they followed after.

Naruto made a small, incredulous choking sound in his throat as he gaped at the girls who were leaving him and Sasuke behind. "Where are you going?" he shouted, his anger seeming to build.

Sakura laughed lightly, and merely glanced back at him over her shoulder as she continued to walk. "Don't worry! We'll be back in about an hour, when we think you might have made some actual progress. In the meantime, we're going shopping~!" Sasuke's pink haired friend let out the last word in a happy sing-song voice, and began prancing happily away.

Naruto continued to gawk in astonishment, while Sasuke simply felt his heart sink. A part of him just couldn't believe that Sakura was actually _forcing_ him into this. Sasuke had had things perfectly under control earlier - before his friend had decided to interfere. Was she really so doubtful of his abilities to do anything on his own? (Not that those doubts would go without good reason, of course). Still, Sasuke wished that she'd just have a little faith in his for once. He had determined long ago that he would confess sometime before graduation, and he was still fixed on that. He would have done it already - if not for this.

Now his and Naruto's friendship would be forever marred by this awkward experience. That Sakura had _forced_ this upon them - that Sasuke, grudgingly rather than willingly, gave his confession.

Sadly he wondered if Naruto would even still want to be _friends_ with his after this.

"Oi, Sasuke!" The saddened Uchiha glanced up guiltily still red in the face from all the close contact, and his heart gave a pitiful thump when his eyes met with those large blue ones. For just a second then, Naruto seemed taken aback by the look on Sasuke's face. But the blonde shook it off. "Now's not the time to be zoning out. We gotta figure a way out of this!"

Sasuke's face darkened. Sakura and the other two were all long gone by now, leaving him here alone with his annoying, irresistible dobe. "How do you plan on doing that?" he asked in a barely audible voice.

Naruto huffed, put out by Sasuke's seemingly uncaring, defeated attitude. "Do you still have your cell phone on you? We could call someone for help! You _saw_ Tenten - she took mine."

Numbly, Sasuke shook his head. "Left it at the house," he muttered.

Now that he had mentally prepared himself... what would it be like if the two of them actually did find a way out of this? Would he be able to simply shrug all those feelings off, and watch his dobe walk away with feelings still left unsaid? No. No, Sasuke decided. If it were going to happen, it needed to happen while he was already at the dropping off point. He wanted to get the words out - he _needed_ to, before that feeling went away. Determination had always found a way to slip away from between Sasuke's fingers. He needed to take every chance he could get.

Naruto cursed quietly again, and shifted around, looking out at their surroundings while testing the space of their uncomfortable enclosure. At Naruto's every little movement, friction lightly tugging their clothes, Sasuke's breath hitched slightly. The heat in his face continued to rise, slowly through the moments - the torture of being so close to the one he wanted, and not being able to _have_ him. Sasuke had to bite his lip _hard _to hold down a gasp.

"Oh hey!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed, those eyes of his momentarily unfocused with sudden insight. He grinned -- obviously he'd just figured out some way the two of them might get loose. Sasuke would have asked about it - seeing as the dobe was temporarily dumbstruck with his apparent idea - except that he was kind of afraid his _own_ thoughts would be betrayed, if he attempted to speak.

"I completely forgot, I have my pocketknife on me," Naruto finally explained.

Oh. Well that was good news he supposed. But, of _course_ there was a problem. Naruto's hands were tangled along with one of Sasuke's in the ropes above the raven's head. It was particularly uncomfortable, and Sasuke was pretty sure that if he lost any more circulation in his hand, it would later have to be amputated. For a moment - a very _long_ moment for Sasuke - Naruto struggled to free those hands, but that really only resulted in jerking about and grunting in a way that nearly gave Sasuke another one of his more intense nosebleeds.

Finally, the dobe sighed in defeat, and... their faces really were _much_ too close. "Get it for me," he directed, blue eyes shining with resolve.

"What?" Sasuke squeaked - yes, _squeaked_. Again. Ugh.

"Look, it's just in my front pocket, and you're the only one here with any hands free! Just get it, and cut us the hell out of this thing."

As the vision of exactly what he'd have to do filled his mind, Sasuke knew that he _really_ didn't want to do this. Anxiously, he glanced downward toward Naruto's pocket, and felt his face instantly go up in flames again. Momentarily not caring that Naruto was watching - because getting himself under control was a lot more important than that - Sasuke shut his eyes tight, and took a very deep breath. Really, why the _hell_ did pant pockets have to be so damn close to the crotch? Of course, before that moment, this fact had never bothered Sasuke much, but that was besides the point.

"Okay," Sasuke said finally, trying so _hard_ to sound indifferent, and grimacing lightly. He gathered up all the courage he could spare, mustering up the will to do this without allowing his hand to accidentally... 'slip.'

Sasuke winced as he stretched out his hand downward between their two bodies - mostly out of discomfort at having to stretch like that, but also because of the images that were happily raiding his mind. Naruto sucked in his gut a little, trying to push farther off of the raven so that Sasuke might reach the pocket with a bit more ease. "The right one," the blonde muttered, sounding somewhat begrudged by the whole affair. Apparently this was a tad bit embarrassing for _him_ too, and Sasuke wondered for a moment if Naruto might not be having the same kind of involuntary thoughts as he was. "And don't drop it once you've got it." He snorted. "We'd really be screwed then."

Sasuke gulped hard, simply nodding in response. He still didn't trust himself enough to speak, and something had triggered in his mind when the word "screw" had left Naruto's lips. His hand found its way into the dobe's pocket finally, twisting his arm in an uncomfortable way since he had to reach crossways _and_ stretch between them. His left hand was the one that was trapped, along with both of Naruto's, and Sasuke was now found himself desperately fighting off any stray thoughts that might associate their situation with what bondage sex might be like. Dear freaking Kami-sama, at this rate Sasuke was going to be lucky to escape with his virginity by the time they finally got out of this mess. Had Sakura actually thought ahead enough to actually _plan_ things like this?

"Hold on, I... I almost got it," he muttered, trying hard not to stutter. Great. Now he was slipping back into _that_ old habit. Damn Sakura. Damn her and her evil pink hair to the lowest level of hell -- at least for now anyway.

Sasuke's shoulder was popping with the strain of stretching his arms out that far, and he could just barely feel the cold of the knife inside Naruto's pocket. He could only _just_ brush the thing with his fingertips. Suddenly (and a bit irrationally) furious at the thing that _refused_ to cooperate with him, Sasuke pushed himself hard and shoved his hand deeper inside the pocket, and Naruto grunted lightly at the unexpected movement.

_Good. God._

Sasuke had been so wrong to even _try_ to compare this with anything that might be like one of his fantasies -- this was much, much _worse_. He'd heard of clichéd circumstances like this, where sexual experiences might be thrilling and not so inconveniencing, but really, this was ridiculous!

"Got it," he muttered, pulling the knife up before Naruto's face. The blonde sighed heavily, as if he'd been holding his breath the entire time, and allowed the muscles in his stomach to relax.

"Good," he said, determination returning in an instant. "Now... uhh..." He looked around at their enclosure, apparently looking for a good place in the net for Sasuke to start cutting. "There," he said, nodding toward a place to Sasuke's left. "Just don't drop it."

Sasuke nodded, and reached over to get to work, blushing brightly at the way his cutting motions caused his and Naruto's bodies to rub together even _more_. Ugh. Why did it seem like the gods hated him so?

The rope was quite thick, and it took a lot of time and effort for a piece of it to finally snap. A short moment of silence followed, in which Naruto and Sasuke were _both_ holding their breath now. Sasuke moved on to the next place in the net and began cutting again, now more determined to get them out than really thinking about his worries with Naruto.

It took around fifteen very long and trying minutes before a wide enough line was slashed down the side of the net for them to escape. Incidentally, a particular cut in the rope had freed their hands - Sasuke was a genius after all, however introverted said genius might be - and they both breathed long sighs of relief and slight pain as the blood rather suddenly rushed back into their hands.

Sasuke allowed Naruto to jump down first, and this was where things got tricky. His balance out of whack even more now than when Naruto had been in the thing with him, Sasuke shifted over to the gap in the net, though his legs were shaking rather badly. It really wasn't a very short drop to the ground at all. Naruto had landed perfectly fine, and wasn't paying any attention to the raven now. Sasuke, however, couldn't help but eye the distance to solid earth somewhat distrustfully. He kept taking in one deep breath right after the other, steeling himself for the jump, and then managing to chicken out at the last moment every time.

When finally Naruto noticed that Sasuke still wasn't down, he glanced up at him in slight annoyance. "Oi! What are you waiting for? Jump down already!"

Sasuke swallowed nervously. How should he say this without embarrassing himself _too_ badly? He still wasn't sure if he _could_ speak - there was a large lump caught in his throat, thanks to adrenaline induced fear. "Well?" Naruto asked demandingly. The blonde's brow creased in confusion, and even up from where he sat, Sasuke couldn't help but admire the other guy's good looks. "Are you scared?" Naruto asked suddenly, sounding a bit incredulous. Incredulity faded to worry, and blue eyes shined up in genuine concern that had Sasuke's breath hitching a little again. Naruto held out his arms. "C'mon I'll catch you."

Sasuke hesitated again, but it was Naruto's eyes - and his offer - that sent him over the edge. Who could refuse a thing like that? Naruto was just so... _sincere_... so obliviously truthful, that it was difficult not to trust him. If he said that he would catch him, he _would_ catch him. Naruto was like that - it was one of the things that Sasuke really admired him for.

Taking one more small breath, Sasuke shifted his weight and jumped.... There was a terribly frightening, but very short rushing sound in his ears as he fell, and then he was there, in Naruto's waiting arms. Naruto allowed Sasuke to slip from his hold almost immediately, but for a single moment, the blonde boy absently continued to keep his arms around Sasuke's shoulders, and the raven's blush returned with a vengeance.

When he stepped away, Sasuke looked rather helplessly up into Naruto's face until he finally caught the blonde's attention again. "What?" Naruto asked at that look.

"I have to tell you something," Sasuke repeated shakily.

Naruto's brow furrowed again. "Can't it wait? I have that _pink thing_ to take care of at the moment."

"No. No... it can't wait."

There must have been some degree of desperation in Sasuke's face, because after a short moment of looking at him, Naruto nodded seriously. "Alright Sasuke," he said quietly.

* * *

Something weird had been going on with Sasuke lately. The guy had always been jittery and nervous around Naruto, even way back before when Naruto had been too stupid to see it, but lately things had gotten even worse.

"You shouldn't get angry at Sakura," the raven began. "She... meant well, I think. She was just trying to... get me to talk to you."

"Talk to me? About what?"

Sasuke looked guiltily up at him through too long eyelashes, and for a moment, Naruto just had to smile. For a guy, Sasuke was extremely and undeniably pretty. Probably that's what made it so easy for Naruto to pick on him like he did. Making Sasuke blush was one of his favorite things to do whenever the guy was around - it was an irresistible thing, to want to see those pale cheeks flame. Such blushes looked unnatural on Sasuke's pasty white skin, but unquestionably cute. Whereas any other person (_girls_, Naruto though to himself) would have just been slightly pink, Sasuke's face resembled something like a tomato. Of course, Naruto had used to mistake the red in Sasuke's face as anger rather than embarrassment. It had taken the Uzumaki way too long to really see it.

Sasuke seemed taken aback by Naruto's sudden smile, his brow creasing in a way that screamed how apprehensive he was about something. Over the years that it had taken to figure Sasuke out, Naruto had become quite adept at reading the little signs of the Uchiha's face that gave his thoughts away. Lately, Sasuke had really been stressing a lot, and Naruto hadn't believed for a second that lame excuse he'd given him about being nervous about graduation. Why should Sasuke worry? He was smart -- a genius; he had perfect grades in all his classes without even trying. His future was pretty much set for him already, unlike Naruto, who still had no idea what he was going to do with his life.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked pleasantly, when the raven still hesitated to answer.

"Naruto I-" he cut off suddenly, and without any warning at all, his face reddened all the way up to his hairline. Was what he had to say really all that bad? Naruto just continued to smile at him, confused, but seriously curious. Sasuke huffed quietly, and his worried eyes moved downward, to the ground at their feet. The guy was actually almost hyperventilating. He kept taking in deep breaths - you know, the kind you take when you're up on the high dive, just before you jump. But it was a few moments of silence still, before he actually said anything.

You know, maybe Naruto had had a vague idea of what Sasuke was going to say before the raven even said it. Body language had already suggested where this conversation was going to go - Naruto really should have guessed it. He'd had girls confess to him before, believe it or not, and he knew the signs. For some reason, it just hadn't really _clicked_, what Sasuke was going to say, until the moment just before he actually said it.

"I... I love you Naruto," Sasuke said quietly, and bowed his head so that his eyes were hidden beneath his hair. Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, half stepping back as if he just wanted to turn and run away. His face was absolutely flaming.

Naruto stood there, stunned for one short, silent moment. Then, he grinned. "No you don't," he said simply, and Sasuke's head snapped back up at the sound of the smile in Naruto's voice.

"What?" Sasuke whispered, and his mouth fell open slightly in disbelief.

"Haha, you come off with the strangest things sometimes Sasuke." Naruto casually reached out and ruffled the raven's hair. Sasuke pushed his hand away immediately - Naruto knew the guy hated it when people touched his perfect hair. However, Sasuke seemed to be more lost in his own thoughts, incredulous, than actually worrying about that at the moment. "Why in the world would you think something like that?" Naruto asked, still smiling a little.

Sasuke continued to stare up at him, eyes wide and, even a little angry. Naruto could sense when Sasuke was near that breaking point - the point where he actually stood up for himself, and acted on or spoke his thoughts without hesitating or holding back. It happened very, very rarely - Naruto had only witnessed it a time or two, and usually, it didn't last long. Naruto normally tried hard to push Sasuke to that point - because, besides being extremely amusing to annoy the Uchiha that much, Sasuke really needed to learn to be stronger. Naruto couldn't say that he himself was trying to be 'noble' or anything - he just wanted to teach his friend how to stand up for himself.

This time there was another reason though. Naruto wanted to push Sasuke to that point, because when Sasuke was at that point, he showed a truer side of himself. Did the guy _honestly_ think that he was in _love_ with him? It was a laughable notion - somewhat absurd, even. How could Naruto Uzumaki really be expected to take something like that seriously?

"You... you actually don't believe me?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"Aw, you're so cute when you make that face Sasu-chan," Naruto said in the most grating voice possible. Promptly he reached out and pinched one of Sasuke's cheeks, and the Uchiha smacked his hand away again, dark eyes hardening. "Don't get your panties in a twist now, my precious little icicle. I think maybe you're just a _lit_-_tle_ bit confused." And he grinned one last grin again, knowing without a doubt that Sasuke wouldn't be able to _stand _it.

And he was right. "Confused?" Sasuke demanded, and this time his face _was_ red from anger. "You are an _idiot_ Naruto Uzumaki. You think years of chasing you around, constantly trying to get your attention... you think all _that_ was just on a- a _whim_? You think I've been mistaken for all this time? That I don't know my own feelings?" Wow. He was really getting pissed off about this. Naruto had never seen Sasuke quite this angry before - it was a real eye-opener.

Tears of frustration had gathered up in the Uchiha's eyes, and he huffed angrily, bowing his head to wipe them away. "You're crying?" Naruto asked, the tone of surprise ringing clear in his voice.

"Yeah and you'd think I'd done enough of it by now over _you_," the Uchiha said heatedly. "I can't believe you think this is a _joke_. I was so stupid to ever think that you might take me seriously for once."

Okay, so things were suddenly getting a little out of hand here. Naruto knew how to deal with Shy Sasuke, but Angry and Convinced Sasuke made him a little nervous. "I always take you seriously," the blonde protested. "I just don't always show it. It's more fun to pick on you."

He'd meant it, he really had -- but as things had a way of doing for Naruto, he came off sounding more joking and half-mocking than anything else. "No, no that's not what I meant," he said quickly, when he saw the look on Sasuke's face. "Well, okay, it _is _what I meant, I just didn't mean it _that way_. Umm... it's just... being so serious all the time isn't any fun. I like to pick on you because I know it drives you crazy and... things are more interesting that way. You know? I'm not trying to be... cold or anything."

"You... _are_ cold to me," Sasuke whispered.

Naruto saw it - he saw the sudden conviction and determination flicker across Sasuke's features - the impulse decision he had just made. Still, what happened next... Naruto really didn't expect it at all.

* * *

It was not an idea that Sasuke had had. Really, he didn't think it through at all before he acted - which was good, by the way, or else he might not had done it. It was just something he suddenly _did_, surprising even himself a little bit. One moment he was much too aware of Naruto's close proximity, and the next, he was standing on his toes a little to push their lips together.

He kind of messed up though. At the very last instant, Sasuke became unsure, momentarily deciding that he didn't have the audacity to really kiss Naruto with all that pent up passion - to crush their lips together like he had done so many times in his dreams when contemplating this moment in the past. And so that was how he ended up almost pulling back at the last second, and accidentally sort of bumping their lips together rather than actually kissing, also managing to bite his own lips hard in the process.

Okay, so Sasuke had just done a pretty good job of embarrassing himself. Really, he had just gone through _way_ too much - more than he could really handle anyway. He'd gone from being stuck in a net with the dobe, pressed up against him and practically humping him with the way they were forced to move about in such a cramped space, to suddenly standing there baring his feelings for him. Then he'd gotten angry at the dobe, yelled at him, _cried _in front of him, and managed to screw up in his attempt to kiss him.

Sasuke's way of thinking was, things couldn't hardly get any worse than that, and he deserved something worth all his troubles besides. Quickly, before he could allow himself to think too much about it, he grabbed Naruto by the arms, holding to him desperately, and was rather suddenly fighting to make the blonde's lips move against the rhythm of his own. But this was unfamiliar territory to Sasuke. He'd never kissed anybody before (other than that one time he'd experimented with Sakura, and that had been too awkward to really enjoy and figure out what he was doing), so, Sasuke wasn't even sure if what he was doing was _right_. He pulled away after just a short moment of this, when it became obvious that he was not going to get what he wanted from Naruto.

And suddenly all of Sasuke's senses returned to him like a gunshot to the chest. What was he _doing_?! Sasuke stared up, pleading, into blue eyes, only to find that he knew exactly what Naruto's response would be before the blonde boy even opened his mouth to find the words.

For a long moment, wide eyes stared silently into wide eyes, each of the boys too shocked to really do or say anything. Finally, Sasuke's mentality collapsed with the knowledge of Naruto's imminent and crushing rejection. It wasn't supposed to be this way.

Suddenly snapping, Sasuke chocked out a strangled sort of cry, and turned and _ran_. As of yet he wasn't sure where he was going - all he knew was that he had to get as far away from Naruto as he possibly could.

* * *

Naruto couldn't believe what had just happened. Yes, he _did _know -- he knew how much he'd really just _hurt_ Sasuke. Sasuke was not the type to just _lie_ about things like that, and he certainly wasn't the type to take heartache or rejection well. Sasuke was fragile - a fact that Naruto had known ever since he'd learned just how timid and shy Sasuke really was.

Of course, Naruto had known for almost nearly as long that Sasuke was gay. C'mon, it was so friggin' obvious. Sasuke smelled too good, he blushed at the thought of porn, and to top it all off -- he'd been best friends with Sakura since middle school, and still insisted that the two of them were _only_ friends. Sakura was not a bad looking girl - actually, Naruto himself had had a hugemongous crush on her at one point or another. She was leader of the Sasuke Uchiha fangirl fan club, she _obviously_ still liked Sasuke (to some extent - enough that she would take him up on any offer he made her anyway), and Sasuke had probably never even _once_ considered tappin' that.

Oh, and not to mention Sasuke's obsession with his hair. He'd spend hours on end, perfecting his duck-butt style in the bathroom mirror. Thank Kami-sama that Naruto had only been witness to such occasion once or twice in the past.

Yes, he'd known Sasuke was gay. Yes, he'd noticed the blushes and suspicious amount of nosebleeds the bastard had whenever Naruto was around, hard as the other guy had tried to hide or deny it. Yes, he'd noticed those looks he gave Naruto sometimes - the way he stared, sometimes completely unabashedly, and the occasional wild, distressed looks that crossed Sasuke's face.

Honestly Naruto had always thought that it was simple teenage hormones. Sasuke was gay, and Naruto was his best friend. Of course there would be some sort of attraction there, but Naruto had never really minded that because he knew that Sasuke wouldn't actually try anything (_that_ was a laughable thought), and he'd also known that the time of teenage hormones would pass. He'd had no _idea_ that Sasuke had confused those feelings with thoughts of actual _love_. He'd not even had the vague inclination until just a moment before Sasuke told him, and even in that moment, Naruto had hoped that he was _wrong_. He'd wanted to be oblivious. He'd wanted to think that Sasuke was just talking on a whim. Because maybe he'd known that he would hurt Sasuke, that he just couldn't _deal_ with that side of Sasuke.

Love was something that meant a lot to Naruto. Bonds were something that meant a lot to Naruto. Getting physical with somebody, he could handle - even knowing that Sasuke wanted to get physical with _him_, he could handle; as averse to the idea as he had been himself.

But love...? Naruto had always known he was dense, but damn, how had he managed _not to see it_? It was so obvious to him now. Of course Sasuke loved him. Sasuke had _always_ loved him. Naruto had just been too stupid and naive to see it. And now he was paying for it. That day - the day he found out how Sasuke really was - he should have dissuaded any thoughts of friendship. Finally knowing that Sasuke was gay, he should have tried harder than ever to push the raven away.

And therein lay the problem -- Sasuke was _addicting_. He was a cool guy; Naruto really liked him, in some ways he even looked up to him -- but not so much that he wanted to be _gay_ with the guy. Naruto wanted to be friends with Sasuke, he really did. He didn't mean to hurt Sasuke....

But once Naruto was back in his quiet apartment, standing with his back against the door, and panting heavily from running the whole way... he knew. He knew exactly what he'd done. He could see that look that had been on Sasuke's face so clearly in his head - all those emotions he usually tried so hard to hide, shining bare and exposed there in those onyx eyes. And Naruto _knew_. He had just done a very, very bad thing to his very closest friend.


	5. Confession Aftermath, And Wedding Plans

_**A/N:** __Don't be too sickened with me for the SasuSaku. _

_Yes, I'll apologize beforehand -- I usually hate the pairing, but it's a necessity for this story, y'know. Plus I kinda like my new rendition of Sakura =P_

_Anywhoo, you were already warned way before with the summary and the story title, so it's not like you didn't know it was coming._

=Confession Aftermath, And Wedding Plans=

* * *

"I'm giving up," the raven said over coffee the next morning. Sakura's apartment was filled with all the silence of a long night, and a sudden unexpected misty morning. Honestly, Sasuke had never expected the dawn to come. Not after all that he'd been through during the darkness of the night. What right did the sun have to shine on him again?

Yes, the night had been excruciatingly rough. Sasuke just kept replaying those last moments with Naruto in his mind, the current of emotions that had shocked him with every tiny sting. The Uchiha had already been through far more horrible ordeals than any one human being was supposed to. His entire family had been massacred by his own brother when Sasuke had been only seven years old, he was angsty and insecure, an outcast who nobody ever understood, and suddenly an orphan. Then apparently he was _gay_... his best friend had hated him throughout the better part of their acquaintance, and now the selfsame best friend - the guy he loved - had rather harshly rejected all those feelings Sasuke had always been too afraid to say.

Still. With all that, Sasuke had never known that one could experience such a agonizing unbearable pain as he had all throughout the night before. His insides had hurt _so much_, and Sakura hadn't really been able to do anything about it. He'd fled directly to her apartment the day before without really thinking about it. Not only had he needed moral support, but Naruto had left some of his things at the Uchiha complex, and therefore it was inevitable that the blonde boy himself would have to go back there. And Sasuke wasn't anywhere near prepared to deal with the guy again.

The morning after an excruciatingly painful night was surprisingly not so bad. Not really. Somehow the coffee tasted better than it ever had before, and the morning of a new day made him feel strangely _alive_. He felt like a friggin' holocaust survivor or something - as if he'd just gone through such a horrendous ordeal, and had come out so much wiser.

Sakura was quiet this morning too. Sasuke knew, she had suffered nearly as much as he had, seeing him broken down to such a point. In a way, it was kind of embarrassing. Sasuke had never allowed anyone to see him like that before, and he was most definitely _not_ a pretty crier. Sakura had done what she could. She'd held him in an awkward kind of way, seeing as he'd been too curled up around the pain to really cling to her much. The two of them had been locked up in her bedroom for the better part of the night, while the pain ceaselessly raked through Sasuke's body, and this was the first that either of them had really emerged from that room for any long period of time.

"Giving up?" Sakura repeated in a hushed voice as she filled her own cup of coffee.

Sasuke nodded in silence, staring with heavy eyes out the window and into the fog. "I finally confessed, and Naruto rejected me. So, I give up. It's as simple as that." Sakura's silence suggested that she thought otherwise. "Yeah," he continued. "Of course I know that... I can't just _stop _liking him. But... I'm going to stop thinking that I can have him. I'm not going to chase him anymore. And eventually things will be fine. It'll take time, but I'll get over him Sakura. At least now that I know there's no chance of us getting together at all."

Rather suddenly the sun moved and broke through the fog outside. It shone in through the kitchen window - happy, and bright, as Sasuke had seen it so many times before. Its warmth touched the Uchiha's dead-feeling skin, and the curtains over threw shapes and pattern across the wood tabletop. Absently, Sasuke traced those shapes with his fingers, studying them perhaps too intently. His eyes had been opened wide by Naruto's rejection. It was only right that he give up. Somehow Sasuke couldn't believe that he had spent so much time and effort acting so foolish. In the end, chasing the dobe had brought him nothing but worry and pain. And he had more important things to do besides.

"Hey Sakura," he started, his voice almost inaudible it was so quiet. "I'm going to throw something at you... an idea. Don't judge too quickly, okay?"

Sakura's green eyes were watching him, he could feel them. But Sasuke ignored it, and after a minute of silence, the pink haired girl slowly made her way over and sat across from him at the table. When he glanced up, he saw that her eyes were piercing. It was as if she was truly looking at him for the first time; watching him, curious and unable to look away. The look should have been unsettling he supposed, but somehow it didn't really bother him for the moment.

"Okay," she agreed just as quietly.

Before replying, Sasuke looked on his friend with new eyes. Sakura was wearing a soft pink morning robe, steam from the mug in her hands was rolling off in streams. Her green eyes were large, taking him in - calculating, and unsure. Her hair was starting to get long again, too - it hung past her shoulders now. Sasuke didn't think he'd ever seen her looking so pretty, so much like herself.

The teeniest smile crossed Sasuke's face. He was about to shock her.

Then, he leaned in across the table, to get closer to her, and simply asked -- "Will you marry me?"

He studied her reaction closely, waiting for the shock that would amuse him. At first though, Sakura's expression didn't change at all. "W-what?" she asked quietly.

Sasuke propped one of his elbows up, and rested his chin on that hand. "I need to rebuild my clan," he told her. "Naruto doesn't want me, and if I can't be with him, then who else can I be with but you?" It was what she'd always wanted. Sakura had always secretly hoped that Sasuke would one day realize that his efforts to catch Naruto were fruitless, and that he would turn to her. Sasuke had always known, that's what she wanted.

He paused for a moment, sill idly tracing those shapes on the tabletop. The sun shifted again, the shadows changed, and now he had new patterns to trace. "I'm going to get over Naruto. I'm going to move on. There are more important things I need to do than waste my time on him. I guess it's time for me to grow up, you know? Even if things had gone well with, we probably wouldn't have lasted long anyway."

Sasuke finally looked up to measure her reaction. Those green eyes had filled, and the tears were already beginning to spill over by the time that he was finished speaking. She blushed, but it wasn't the intense blushes like the ones that Sasuke usually gave. Really it was just the faintest touch of pink on her cheeks.

Sasuke supposed that he did love her. In a way. She was his best friend after all - now, probably his only friend. He'd made the right decision hadn't he? If Sakura agreed, she'd know exactly what she was getting into. She knew he still loved Naruto. But Sasuke needed to rebuild the Uchiha clan that Itachi had nearly decimated, and if he had to choose someone to help him do it, who else was there but Sakura?

"Of course I'll marry you Sasuke," his friend choked out, and she stood from her chair, and stumbled her way over to him on unsteady feet. Then she threw herself on him, and began to cry rather loudly on his shoulder. Sasuke patted her back, unfazed by her reaction, and glanced back out the window where the mist was finally clearing. This had been a life changing sort of morning. The sun was bright, the coffee had never tasted better, Sasuke had never felt more alive, and Sasuke had never felt more dead.

* * *

Naruto stared dejectedly up at the "CLOSED: Due To Illness" sign that stretched across Ichiraku's front. _What? Whaaaat?_

"Oh, Naruto," said a pleasant voice, and the traumatized blonde turned to see a passerby standing there smiling at him. Naruto couldn't remember the old man's name. _Everybody_ in Konoha knew Naruto Uzumaki - mostly due to the wild pranks he used to pull in the beginning of his teenage years. Yep. Almost everyone in town had had to call the cops on him at one point or another. Weirdly enough, he'd somehow managed to fall into the good graces of most of them over the years. Huh.

"Teuchi wanted me to tell you if I saw you around - he's down with a bad back, and the shop's likely to be closed until he gets better. He can't get up on his feet on his own, I suppose, so he's having that nice daughter of his stay with him and help him around, so she can't work the shop either."

Naruto could feel his heart sinking fast as what the old man was telling him really sank in. _No ramen...? _"That's terrible!" he whined. "I mean, yeah, it's awful that Ichiraku's down for the count, but no ramen? Kami-sama why do you _hate_ me?" Dramatically, right there in the middle of the street, Naruto fell to his knees and pleaded with the sky. The villagers and the old man, who were all used to these random outbursts of Naruto Moments, didn't even throw him a second glance, and the old man just kept smiling so amiably. With that, Naruto curtly stood, brushed the dirt of his very orange pants, and smiled back at the man. "Hey, thanks for letting me know. If you see Ichiraku or Ayame around in the next couple of days, you tell them _I_ said that _old man_ better hurry up and get better so that he can serve me more ramen!"

The man nodded, said "Will do," and after a moment, Naruto downheartedly began heading his way home. This was a drastic situation, really. He'd have to stock up on lots of instant ramen to tide him over until the shop was open again. How depressing.

Okay, so lately Naruto's life was a little fucked. His gay best friend had a major crush on him, and he and his fake ID had nearly gotten caught when he'd spotted Asuma at a certain bar the night before (yes, the same bar where they'd spent Sasuke's birthday), and now -- no ramen. The inner child inside himself made him want to just curl up into the fetal position and cry.

And you know how there are those times when people are miserable, and they're stupid enough to actually think _"at least things can't get any worse...?"_ Well, Naruto just happened to fall into the category of people stupid enough to think exactly that. Once home he was devastated to find that he had a mere _three_ instant ramen cups left. Only three! Damn, but he hadn't realized his was supply was running so dry.

This was ridiculous. Naruto hadn't let his cabinets become _this_ empty since he was thirteen and broke. It called for drastic measures - he needed to go emergency shopping... _now_.

Without a second thought on the matter, Naruto rushed right out of his apartment and made it to the nearest Dollar Store in record time. Because, yes, the Dollar Store does sell ramen - a good amount of it, actually, seeing as this particular one was located within a fifty mile radius of a certain crazed, hyperactive ramen lover. It was while he was standing there, desperately cramming as many ramen cups as he could into one of those little carry around baskets (you know the ones...) when he heard the talk from the next aisle over. Giggling girls. Idly he wondered who they were. He knew he was having an off day, but maybe if he flashed those girls the famous Uzumaki Seductive, You-Know-You-Want-Me-In-Your-Pants grin, he could find away to get _lucky_.

"Man - and all this time I thought he was gay!"

Of course, at those words Naruto instantly thought of Sasuke. It sent a pain in his chest, but made him smile sadly too. Those girls wouldn't know about Sasuke's confession though. They could be talking about _any_ gay guy in Konoha - there were plenty, starting with the astrology-obsessed Neji Hyuga, all the way down the line to eyebrow-less Gaara.

Neji was forever insisting on telling Naruto his horoscope - things along the lines of "you will have a random encounter with your one true love on this day" or sometimes the more blatant "your perfect match is standing right in front of you." However, as Naruto had so _politely _pointed out to him time and time again, he wasn't gay. And Neji's silent seriousness kind of scared him most of the time anyway.

Gaara, on the other hand, was much more direct. His pick-up lines consisted of such things as, "Wanna fuck?" and the occasional, "I want you in my bed." He was constantly threatening to kill people completely on Naruto's behalf, and wouldn't hesitate to resort to intoxicating and/or drugging the dobe up in order to have his way with him. It went without saying that Gaara scared him too.

"I know right?" the girls' conversation continued. "He's been chasing after that Naruto guy since like, kindergarten." A single cup of ramen slipped out of Naruto's hand. _What?** Whaaaaaat?**_

"Oh poor Sasuke-kun," a third girl sympathized. "That stupid Naruto. He's so clueless. It's annoying!"

"It's too bad really. All along we thought he was gay, but I guess Sasuke-kun was just bisexual."

"Still - _Sakura_? What does that chick have that I don't? I have much bigger breasts than her. She's so flat, I bet she never even made it out of her training bra!"

"Better not diss her. You know she's Sasuke-kun's best friend. Has been for ages.... I guess it really shouldn't be a surprise -- now that they're getting _married_." The girl shivered audibly, and, stealthy like a ninja, Naruto snuck quietly over to the side of the aisle, and peeked over into theirs. The three girls were walking away now, still chatting away, and one of them made a comment that sent them all into another fit of giggles.

Naruto felt as if he'd been stunned by a stun gun. (Yes, he did know what that felt like, as a matter of fact. It was a long complicated story that involved him eventually requesting of Shikamaru Nara to stun him with one.)

_Sasuke and Sakura are getting married?_ he wondered, his mind blanking on him completely. _Married...? Since when?_ Not even a full 24 hours had passed since Sasuke had confessed to him! He couldn't have _possibly_ moved on that quickly. Was it just another one of those stupid rumors? Fangirls usually got everything wrong. But Sakura was head of the fangirls.... Why would she let out a gossip that she and Sasuke were getting married? Her subordinates would eat her alive.

Naruto knew he'd never be satisfied with any mundane answers. Even if he followed after those girls and shook the knowledge out of them all within an inch of their lives.... Forgetting his prior engagement altogether, Naruto dropped the basket of ramen cups, and ran out of the store -- headed straight in the direction of the Uchiha complex.

* * *

Word spread _fast_. Sakura, being who she was, just couldn't hold the information in - not even for a day, and already Sasuke had been stopped on the street and given a total of _five_ congratulations. He was not used to having to interact with so many people in a day - Sakura was running around letting their engagement be known to anyone who would listen. Engagement. It was so weird to think that he, Sasuke Uchiha, would soon be getting married. No doubt Sakura and her minions of Sasuke Uchiha lovers would soon have all the wedding plans drawn up and ready to go. He wondered how long she'd give him before claiming him. Obviously the only real thing Sakura was concerned about was getting the wedding part over and done with, so that Sasuke would be hers, and so unavailable for anyone else.

Sasuke sighed heavily. He wouldn't be able to show his face in Konoha again for a while. Not with _this_ kind of commotion stirring _already_. How exhausting.

He plopped down on the couch tiredly, trying not to think about it when he saw all those papers still scattered about the floor from his last tutoring session with Naruto. _The __last__ one, _his mind silently agreed. _You'll never be able to be with him like that again._

You remember how once before Sasuke had thought "_speak of the devil and (s)he shall appear...?"_ It was still true.

He had that feeling suddenly, like someone was nearby, watching him, and he turned sideways a little only to find himself face-to-face with Naruto Uzumaki himself. The blonde was leaning over the back of the couch, looking down at him with genuinely concerned blue eyes. "Gah!" Sasuke exclaimed, and rolled right over into the floor, hitting his back painfully on the corner of the coffee table as he fell. "Owww..." he moaned.

Surprised, Naruto ran over to help him up. Sasuke stared at the hand he offered him as if it were a snake. "What are you doing here?" he demanded. Naruto blinked in surprise at that hard tone. Yes, usually Sasuke was a lot less assertive than this. Usually he was captured instantly by Naruto's eyes, unable to be harsh toward the blonde boy even in the slightest. But the stupid dobe had broken his heart. Sasuke had been up _all_ night in so much pain over _him_, he still hadn't had the chance to sleep yet, and with everything else going on in his life on top of all this stress weighing down on his mind... the Uchiha was _not_ in a particularly good mood.

"Uhh... I...." Without warning, Naruto's face broke out into a tiny unexpected smile, and dammit Sasuke blushed. "I caught a rumor on the wind," the blonde explained.

Sasuke stared blankly up at him, and then down at the still outstretched hand. With a small scoff, the Uchiha pushed it away, and stood on his _own_, thankyouverymuch. "That's a bit vague," he remarked, brushing himself off a little. He winced. There was a sore spot on his back now, thanks to the corner of the damn coffee table.

Naruto sat himself down onto the couch as if he had a perfect right to be there. The nerve of some damn Uzumaki's. "Well, it was the _craziest_ thing.... I feel kinda stupid now, showing up like this."

"You should feel stupid," Sasuke agreed.

Silence for a moment. Then, "So _testy _today, Sasuke." Sasuke turned back to the boy in a sudden rage, with words on his lips to tell the Uzumaki _exactly_ where he could shove being 'testy.' Sasuke stopped on the point of saying something nasty at the look on Naruto's face. The blonde had _sounded_ joking, but those blue eyes were staring up at him now, deep and sincere and guilty. Sasuke's words died away in the back of his throat.

"It was just some girls talking, while I was buying ramen." The dobe laughed nervously. "They said that you and Sakura are supposed to get _married_. Can you believe it?"

Oh. That. Sasuke sighed again - his mind did not function properly, when it came to stress and sleep deprivation. "Sakura and I _are _getting married," he agreed.

Silence again. Then, the damn dobe exploded. "What?! Sasuke that's _crazy_!" Naruto jumped to his feet, shoving his face mere inches in front of Sasuke's. "You can't marry Sakura! You're in love with _me_!"

Under normal circumstances, Sasuke probably would have taken this as a sign that maybe Naruto had thought things through and realized he had feelings for him too. However, at the moment, Sasuke just wasn't in the mood for _feelings_. He didn't even want to _like_ Naruto right now, much less be in love with him. Angrily, he pushed the blonde's face away. "I have to rebuild my clan," he muttered, his tired mind unable to come up with anything better to say.

"What kind of excuse is that?"

"Excuse?" Sasuke demanded. "I've always known what I'd have to do! This is to rebuild the Uchiha clan. I've known I'd have to do this since the very day that Itachi destroyed my family."

Naruto made a sudden face of disgust. "Ew. That means you and Sakura will actually have to have _babies_ together. That means that you and Sakura will actually have to _sleep_ together." He laughed abruptly. "How are you going to manage that Sasuke? You can't even make yourself _look _at a vagina." Sasuke glared Death at the other boy. "Besides, I thought you loved _me_?"

"I _do_ love you, idiot!" Sasuke shouted, but it was a sincere kind of shout.

"You know, I really think you suffer from bipolar disorder. Not that it can hold a candle to your OCD issues, of course."

"Is there a moment in your life when you're _not _being ridiculous?" Sasuke snarled. "I'm _tired_, Naruto. I have wedding plans to put up with, a frantic new fiancé, and I really... _really... _don't feel like dealing with _you _right now." At each word, Sasuke winded down a little. His tired body was beginning to remind him exactly just how exhausted he really was. And by the look on Naruto's face, he knew his words had stung. It was true that Sasuke had never been harsher toward him - even back when he and Naruto fighting was a regular occurrence. Sasuke had never in his life actually managed to put actual _feeling_ behind those hateful words.

At the moment, though, he really didn't care if the blonde's feelings were hurt or not. _Good_, he thought. _Maybe he'll realize what it's like - not being wanted._

"Okay Sasuke," Naruto said simply, smiling halfheartedly. The smile didn't touch his eyes. "I'll leave you alone - swear." Without warning, the dobe suddenly reached out and pinched Sasuke's cheek in that infuriating way of his. "But _aw,_ how cute! Little Sasu-chan is gwowing up and finally getting mawwied!"

Needless to say, Sasuke _chased_ Naruto out of his house that day. With the nearest object he could find that might serve as a deadly weapon.

* * *

Sasuke's bad feelings are never wrong. Within the next week, he allowed Sakura to move in with him inside the Uchiha complex, bringing over all the things from her apartment. And it never failed to surprise him (not to mention put a sickly feeling into the pit of his stomach) every time he walked into his kitchen and/or living room and/or his _bedroom_ to find a gang of girls, happily chatting over his wedding plans. Being an Uchiha - the last Uchiha considered sane, anyway - Sasuke had an infinite amount of money, and everybody in Konoha knew it. The girls were going to put out all the stops on his wedding.

Sometimes there were dozens of them at a time, with Sakura running frantically from one little bunch to the other, bowing heads over scattered papers. Sometimes they even had sleepovers. Sasuke, being the guy that he was, tried to be bitter about it at first. But being bitter was something that he was very bad at, unless he was completely exhausted - as he had been with Naruto the other day - and before long, he was giving in to the girls' every whim. Sometimes he went to bed at night feeling very much as if he'd been taken advantage of.

His wedding was going to be painfully spectacular. No introvert wants to be subjected to a situation like that -- Sasuke himself had always imagined a simple wedding, in an out-of-the-way place where his fan club would be unwelcome (and hopefully totally clueless as well). However, there was no stopping the girls of Konoha whenever they had their minds set on something. '_Hell hath no fury_' and all that. They were all absolutely determined to give him the grandest most expensive wedding that, not only Konoha, but the _country of Japan_ had ever seen. He knew though that it was just his fangirls making one last attempt at giving him something that would make him happy. Obviously they were thinking, if they couldn't be his, at least they'd do everything in their power to assure his happiness with the one he did end up with.

Over all, the entire process was very tiring.

However, there _was_ one tiny little change that he requested from Sakura. She'd been incredulous of course, but for the first time in his life Sasuke had used the innocent, pleading Uchiha pouty face against her. He'd never quite manipulated anyone like that, but a part of Sasuke's shyness had died the day that Naruto had so coldly rejected him, and he was finding himself doing more and more little things that he wouldn't have even imagined doing before. Sakura, of course, relented - as confused as she had been.

And there was one other thing that Sasuke would have to do before the wedding date... something that he wasn't particularly looking forward to, but he'd planned on it.

Two weeks had passed since his heartbreaking confession. That was it - just two weeks. And, steeling himself, he found himself on the doorstep of Naruto's apartment. Unsure of himself, Sasuke knocked lightly, and waited. No response. After a minute, he knocked again, louder. Nothing.

With an impatient sigh, he raised his fist again, but a voice interrupted him. "If you're looking for Naruto, he left some hours ago. Out to go partying again I guess." Sasuke turned, curious, to see one of the dobe's neighbors emerging from their own apartment to take out a bag of trash. "Oh, it's you Sasuke-san." The woman smiled happily, her face flushing a bit. _Oh great,_ he thought. _One of those older admirers._ It seemed there was no age limit for the Sasuke fangirls. "Anyway, Naruto's been going out every night now, you know? Always coming home way too early in the morning, waking me up with his noisy singing and banging around his apartment. It really gets old."

_Naruto's been out drinking every night?_ It'd been a while since he'd been like that. As mentioned before, he'd gotten tired of it. After all - he couldn't _actually_ get drunk.

"By the way, I heard about your upcoming marriage. Actually I was sent an invitation just yesterday. Congratulations!"

_They've already started sending out invitations? _he thought incredulously. He didn't even know what the date was yet for heaven's sake! "Thanks," he muttered, and stalked away. He'd come back sometime earlier tomorrow, he decided. Hopefully before Naruto went out again.

With everything going on, it was so easy for Sasuke and the others to forget that graduation and school finals were coming up. They had some serious studying to do - usually the girls invading the Uchiha home brought their work with them, spreading textbooks alongside wedding planners and dress magazines. Not that Sasuke himself got much work done. Between an overly clingy Sakura, whom it took no less than pliers to separate from himself, and a constant stream of "oh don't you think this lace would look perfect here?" or "this church would be a great place for your wedding! Look at the view!" concentration was impossible.

It was near dusk that day once Sasuke left Naruto's apartment, and as he approached his own home, it was impossible to hold down the tiny, confused smile that spread its way across his face. It had been a while since the Uchiha complex had been so full of laughter and life. Maybe things would be like this from now on - with children, and Sakura's friends coming to visit. Maybe this was something that Sasuke had always needed - company, and distractions.

Apparently a brokenhearted Rock Lee had come by in his absence, to offer his own congratulations. Really it was not a surprise to see the flash of green zipping by about the place when Sasuke came home. According to Sakura, every time the eyebrow boy had tried to burst into another of his "springtime of youth" speeches, he'd start crying in misery, and then proceeded by insisting on running laps for punishment. Lee was not taking the news of the upcoming wedding well.

Time passed quickly enough, and Sasuke found himself at Naruto's apartment again, early in the morning the next day. He knew that the dobe had to be home - surely he hadn't stayed out until almost _noon_ - but when he knocked, his only reply was silence. Sasuke continued happily knocking away at the door, until finally he heard the sounds of a very grumpy Naruto stirring inside. "What?" the dobe demanded, flinging the door open fnally. Sasuke simply stood there, arms crossed, until the blonde's eyes focused, and Naruto blinked in surprise. "Sasuke...?"

The Uchiha rolled his eyes, and shoved his way past Naruto and into the apartment. Ew. "As unbelievable as it is, your cleaning skills have gotten worse. Or maybe it's just your laziness."

The blonde groaned quietly, running fingers through his hair as if he had a headache. "Yuh, well, things have been a little messed up lately and I haven't really been in the mood for _cleaning_. I'm sorry that my apartment doesn't appeal to you, Mr. OCD." Sasuke scowled lightly at him, but Naruto ignored it, and made his way over to shove piles of junk into the floor from the couch. Then, he plopped down, and patted the spot next to him until Sasuke gave in and sat down too.

"So," the blonde continued, "is there a _reason_ why you came here, or did you just want to criticize my messy apartment?"

Sasuke frowned at him, confused. "You're acting like you actually managed to get _drunk_ last night."

"Eh. I managed to convince Kyuubi to let up a little." Naruto grinned a little ruefully.

"Ah."

"So... what'd you want?" Obviously the dobe wasn't in the mood for skipping around the subject this wonderful morning. Sasuke was guessing that the dobe currently had a hangover from hell, and if he were not the infuriatingly caring Uchiha that he was, he probably would have been glad for Naruto's misery.

Sasuke frowned at the boy, and crossed his arms over his chest with a little huff. "I came to make peace," he said bluntly. "The wedding, apparently, is three months from now. Sakura and her fan club get things sorted out pretty quickly. Anyway, I need a best man."

Naruto continued to look perfectly confused, his nose scrunched in a way that made Sasuke's mind betray him and think him cute, until finally he seemed to register what Sasuke was saying, and blinked up at the Uchiha with large blue eyes. "You want me to be your best man at the wedding?" he asked blankly.

Sasuke shrugged, uncomfortable by his own thoughts. "Well, it's either you or Neji - and no offense to the guy, but he kinda creeps me out."

Naruto was silent for a short minute, his eyes falling to the floor which was almost completely hidden beneath a mass of filth. "Funny," he muttered, "I was just thinking the same thing about him the other day."

"So?" Sasuke demanded impatiently. "Will you or won't you?"

Naruto grimaced, and reached over to lightly smack the Uchiha on the head. "Of course I will idiot," he said, rolling his eyes dramatically, and Sasuke couldn't help but scowl at him again.

As far as Sasuke saw it, he had two options - 1) force his meaner, more aggressive side out of himself, and be needlessly mean to and scowl at Naruto, or, 2) fall helplessly and irreversibly in love with him again. Seeing as Sasuke was getting _married_ soon, option 2 was not such a good idea. It was more difficult that he'd expected, however, to keep up his hateful facade toward the boy he was still sort of in love with.

"Peace offering, huh?" Naruto asked quietly. "Does that mean you'll watch porn with me now?" A malicious grin broke out, and, face flaming with sudden embarrassment, Sasuke calmly rose to his feet. "Never mind," the Uchiha said simply, making his way over to the door. "Maybe Neji _would_ be interested...."

"Hey, hey!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping to his feet and chasing after him with that stupid grin. He caught Sasuke's wrist just as the Uchiha was headed out the door. "I was only kidding with you Sasuke. Jeez, don't get so uptight about it." Naruto laughed somewhat nervously. And somehow the two of them agreed on going out to get something to eat - not ramen though, since apparently the shop was currently closed for some reason. "Besides," Naruto said as they left the apartment, "you don't want Neji at your wedding. He'll probably give some big speech on 'destiny' and 'fate' and all that. Then he'll try reading your fortune to convince you that you're gay...."

Well, it wasn't the most perfect making-up, and things were still a little unsteady on both sides, but it would do. For now.


	6. In Sickness and In Health

_**A/N: **__Look at this, look at This! =) I'm excited. Are you excited? _

_Okay, so here's the deal. About nine months ago I got a job that totally SUCKED, and lost all my free time and all my motivation to do anything but sleep.... But I quit after Christmas, and now I'm writing again. =) I'm so glad that I can actually waste time on the things I enjoy again._

_Sooo... I know it's a little late *ahem* (A LOT late...) but, here's the next chappy of Crashed The Wedding. =)_

=In Sickness And In Health=

* * *

The following week was one _hell_ of a week. Even in regaining Naruto's sort-of-friendship Sasuke had never been more stressed. Finals were being held at school _every day_ that week. As mentioned once or twice before, Sasuke was a straight-A student, and being an Uchiha meant that he was pretty damn smart. However, stress and sleep deprivation (both mainly thanks to the wedding-crazed girls filling his house) were never a good combination for an eighteen year old, even an Uchiha. His genius would not help him if he was fighting so hard just to keep his eyes open during the tests.

And so it was that the exams, which under normal circumstances would have been a breeze, were actually quite the opposite. He couldn't concentrate on any of the questions. His mind kept slipping to other things - the graduation preparations, the wedding plans, and of course... _Naruto_, damn him. Even now that Sasuke was getting married he couldn't get the dobe out of his head. Since making peace with the blonde guy over the weekend, Naruto had taken the liberty upon himself of _also_ showing up at Sasuke's house during the days, watching with amused blue eyes the progress that was being made on the wedding plans. Sometimes he even threw in his own two cents, which more often than not led to getting bopped on the head by an offended Sakura, or some other Sasuke fangirl.

In more ways than one, the dobe proved to be much more of a distraction than any of those girls had _ever _been.

Sasuke's mind kept rolling over conversations he'd had with Naruto since the confession - the things he'd ended up admitting even when he was trying his hardest not to even _think _about those things. Neither of them had talked about the peculiar situation since that day that Naruto had stopped by the Uchiha complex - but they both knew it. Sasuke could see it in Naruto's eyes sometimes, when he watched the blonde without really meaning to - and, being caught staring, he would immediately blush and curtly turn away. _That_ particular scene happened too many times for Sasuke to count.

And there was something else that he would sometimes catch a glimpse of in the blonde's eyes too. It plagued Sasuke's mind constantly - that half worried look that Naruto always tried to hide from him. What was it? Guilt - knowing that he'd caused Sasuke pain? Guilt for accidentally making Sasuke fall in love with him? Stress - because he knew his best friend was in love with him? Worry about the upcoming wedding? _Jealousy_ about the upcoming wedding...? Sometimes, Sasuke's mind tricked him into believing that it was true - that Naruto didn't want him to get married. There were little signs - things about Naruto that were different, and Sasuke tried to convince his stubborn mind that those changes had _not_ been brought about because of his confession. They probably didn't even have anything to do with Sasuke.

And on top of everything else, Sasuke was absolutely convinced that he (himself) was coming down with a cold... or something. Being an Uchiha, he had a strikingly good immune system, and therefore it wasn't really out of sheer pride whenever he insisted, _'I'm an Uchiha, and Uchihas don't get sick....' _But it was driving him nuts! He'd never thought that being sick could be so maddening. The cold, clammy, sweaty feeling of his hands, the numbness of his nose which caused breathing problems, the random headaches and stomach aches that came and went without warning.

Sakura tried to convince him to stay home from school that Wednesday, but he refused, insisting that he had to get all his finals done in order to graduate. It was only a small lie, really. Being the model student that he was, Sasuke actually wasn't _required_ to take all of his finals - he had a few exemptions, you know. But being an Uchiha, he always went a little over the top with things like that without ever really thinking about it. It was just something that he had always done - and he would _not_ miss or exempt these finals.

And so it was that, with a sniffling nose, Sasuke found himself at a desk in a cold classroom, surrounded by his graduating classmates, unable to concentrate, and holding his head in his hands with an unbearable headache. He knew that if he gritted his teeth and waited it out, occupied his mind with something else, the headache would soon pass, and he could continue with his test. As it was, he had only just answered six of the seventy-five questions, and there was only twenty minutes of test time remaining. Idly he toyed with the thoughts of asking for a pass to go to the nurse's office - that he might retake the test later on. However, being stubborn runs through Uchiha blood, and so Sasuke refused the thoughts nearly as soon as he had them.

So, instead, he allowed his eyes to wander around at his fellow classmates, head still pounding lightly. You know... it was strange. He'd spent years with these people - knew nearly all of them by face if not name, and he would be graduating with them in the next week. And yet, it felt somehow as if he were surrounded by a group of strangers. For a while he found himself thinking... did they ever wonder about him? Did any of them know his true nature, watch him, and just never say anything? Did they gossip about him, they way he'd heard them gossip about so many others?

And then he thought... did it really even matter at all?

Slowly, Sasuke sat up straighter in his seat, and pulled out a small slip of paper from his pocket. Across the top it read, _"Graduation Goal - Sasuke Uchiha."_ Glancing around at everyone once more, he picked up his pencil, and wrote in tiny, neat letters... _"To make Naruto Uzumaki mine."_

He would turn it in to Sakura later. He could already see her face in his head, that look that she would give him - questioning and sad with deep green eyes, which would also hold just the faintest touch of being hurt. How he would explain to her that it no longer mattered - it had been his goal, and it had failed, and it didn't matter if everyone knew. And she would look at him pityingly, take the folded slip from his hand, and sadly say _"Oh, Sasuke...."_

Yes, this week of all weeks, Sasuke was one hell of an angsty raven, and his brooding counterbalanced oddly with the strange electricity that he could feel in the air. It wasn't just the graduating class, but everyone in the school - the year was almost up, summer was nearly upon them, the smell of it sharp in the air, and everyone was excited. It seemed, even with all the tests that had to be taken, there was much more laughter to be heard in the hallways, and looks in people's eyes that shined with anticipation. Anxious glances toward the ticking clock near the end of every school day. The way everyone ran about so happily - couples holding hands had never seemed more in love, best friends had suddenly never seemed so close, whispering to one another and giggling with one another and giving piggyback rides running through the hallways.

And in all the excitement, even with all that he should be looking forward to, even though he knew this was his chance to move on and start over and be happy for himself, Sasuke felt sort of left out. It was depressing, and lonely. And every time he came home and started to tell Sakura about it, she would smile or laugh about something, her green eyes would sparkle with the excitement he had seen in everyone else, and the words would die away on Sasuke's lips. Then, the fangirls would start showing up, and all hopes at conversation would be lost.

By the way, Sasuke and Sakura were not sharing a bedroom. They hadn't progressed quite _that_ far yet. Sakura understood that Sasuke liked his space, and the only time he really had to himself anymore was at night, alone in his bedroom. He enjoyed it - someone like Sasuke, who pathetically revels in loneliness. It was just the way he was; the way he had always been.

And sometimes, when he _really_ thought about it, his mind would jump back to those carelessly spoken words that Naruto had said to him -_ "you can't even make yourself _look _at a vagina!"_ Kami-sama, but it made Sasuke feel so ridiculous whenever he thought of that. Okay, so Sasuke was (in Sakura terms) a wuss. Okay, so even though he was in a perfectly heterosexual sort-of relationship now, he still somehow managed to be the 'uke.' It embarrassed him, and he was ashamed of it a little, but... it was inevitable. Sasuke couldn't change _that_ much _that_ quickly - and Sakura understood.

He would always only ever just be himself. Nothing could stop that.

And then, like a _bitch_, it hit him. Sasuke Uchiha had caught a sever case of the cold. A _cold_! It wasn't even the season _for_ those sorts of things, was it?!

It was Friday - the last day of school, and his mind was swimming a bit more than usual. He found himself unable to concentrate on any one line of thought at a time. Sasuke would find himself grasping at one thought, only to have it slip away like air between his fingers. Everyone sat in anticipation, laughing, chatting, and holding their breath as if something momentous was about to happen. Several students had their cell phones out, and kept glancing down at the time. Then, the final bell rang, and it was official -- school was out, summer was here. Everyone crowded out of the building in the typical way; whooping and shouting and celebrating in whatever little means they could.

The shouting did nothing good for Sasuke's sudden pounding headache, and he walked with his head down as he stepped outside into the glaring sunlight. It hurt his eyes, so he kept them squinted shut. Then, suddenly, an arm that was all too familiar slung itself around his neck, and blonde hair that he was much too familiar with brushed his cheeks, and a voice that he knew all _too_ well sounded happily in his ear. Sasuke couldn't really make out Naruto's words. They jumbled together in a mass of different syllables that he couldn't comprehend - as if the blonde were suddenly speaking a different language. He guessed that it was something along the lines of how he felt about school being up or graduating or some such. Naruto had asked a question, and he answered with a muttered, "I guess."

Then, without warning, Sasuke was struck with the oddest stomach churning feeling, and his vision tunneled in, and… he fainted. Actually _fainted_!

What a way to end his high school years.

* * *

The poor, fallen Uchiha's awareness gradually returned to him. The first thing he realized was that he was very _warm_ - he was covered (still even with his shoes on) all the way up to his chin, and bright sunlight was shining right down on him. With a little grunt, he kicked the blankets off, and suddenly, a shadow fell over him. Sasuke was faintly aware that his head was throbbing gently.

When he finally opened his eyes, he was a little startled to see a mesh of bright blue and striking yellow. It took a moment for his eyes to focus - only to find that a dobe (One Naruto Uzumaki)'s face was hovering just inches above his own. "Feeling better yet sunshine?" said dobe asked with a grin.

Oh great. An even bigger headache to put up with.

With another little grunt, Sasuke roughly shoved the dobe's face away. Naruto ignored the obvious I-don't-want-you-here vibe that Sasuke was emitting, and laughed as he helped the raven sit up. Sasuke groaned again as his head swam. He reached up to feel a not-so-small bump on the back of his head - there was even a little dry blood back there.

And Naruto, with all the prudence of a teenage boy, began his tirade (AKA the instant replay) of Sasuke's collapse. "Man! I have never seen you go down like that! You just hit the ground... _boosh!"_ He giggled in a very Naruto way. "I mean, uh, I did try to catch you an' all. But I was shocked, honestly. Mr. Perfect Uchiha... fainting! It was kinda funny... y'know, until Sakura started hitting me."

Sasuke glared at the blonde boy. He hadn't even had the decency to _catch_ him? Ugh. Sasuke couldn't rely on him for anything. "So, what, you just stood above my unconscious self and laughed?" Naruto's smile didn't slip entirely, but his blue eyes took on a shade of guilt. "I hope she hit you hard. Where are we anyway?"

"Sakura's place was closest, and her parents were cool with it. You know, since you two are getting married soon an' all."

Sasuke wasn't really paying all that much attention to Naruto's reply though. He was too busy gaping around in shock. _Pink. It's all... horrendously pink._ The floor, the carpet, the cushioned canopy bed that Sasuke was lying on... everything in the room was bubblegum pink - brighter even than Sakura's hair.

In case anyone was wondering, this was Sakura's _parents' _house they were in. Months before, Sakura had moved into the apartment where she'd been staying before the whole wedding deal. And you know, even before she'd moved in with him, Sakura had been over to the Uchiha complex loads of times, but Sasuke had rarely visited her at her parents' place.

Sakura _had_ told him that she hadn't brought all of her belongings with her to the Uchiha complex. And now he could see why. _Agh. My eyes...._ The sunlight reflecting off the neon pink walls was rather unpleasant. Apparently Sakura had been one of those little girls who had grown up with sure confidence that she was a princess - except that that assurance had dragged all the way out into her teenage years as well. The teddy bears, the Barbie doll-like gilded mirror, the bed, her expensive pink iPod... it was all proof toward this fact. Yep. Sakura was a spoiled brat (in a manner of speaking – he really didn't mean anything offensive toward his future wife at the moment). But why, of why, hadn't Sasuke realized it before - that Sakura was _that_ kind of girl? It had always been obvious that she was spoiled to death. Honestly, he should have known.

Naruto snorted with laughter at Sasuke's examination. "I know right?" he said simply. "I asked her if she was sponsoring Pepto-Bismol, and she hit me again."

"You really shouldn't provoke her like that you know," Sasuke muttered, promptly lying back down and hiding his face in the overly pink feathered pillow.

"Oi! I've been waiting for two hours for your sorry ass to wake up, and now you're just going to go back to _sleep_?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to retort something along the lines of _'you bet I am,' _but his was not the voice that interrupted the momentary silence. "Ooohh, is our Sasu-chan awake?" another voice gushed from the hallway just outside of Sakura's room. Oh, dear Kami-sama... it was Mrs. Haruno; Sakura's mom.

Sasuke had only ever met Sakura's parents on a whole of two times; and that had been more than enough to leave a long-lasting impression. Mrs. Haruno was without a doubt, hands down, the most... eccentric person that Sasuke had ever met. Honestly, the word he silently used to describe her as was "crazy," but considering that she was his soon-to-be mother-in-law, it was probably best not to actually admit to something like that.

The first time that Sasuke had met the woman had been on the very first day of high school. Since he and Sakura had become such good friends so quickly in middle school, Mrs. Haruno had immediately warmed up to him. She offered to give him a ride to school that first day, since she would be driving Sakura anyway, and so he'd reluctantly agreed. When Sasuke had first actually _seen_ her, he'd only had time to take in her extraordinarily pink hair (exactly like her daughter's) before the hefty woman ran right into him, pulling him up into great bear-hug, squeezing tightly, his face suffocating somewhere among her unusually large breasts. (Sakura seemed to take after her mother in just about every way - except for _that. _After all, Sasuke's pink haired friend had always been a little more than insecure about her near-flatness in that area).

After that life-threatening embrace (which had honestly been the scariest experience Sasuke had ever lived through in his life; mad murderous brother and all), Mrs. Haruno had instantly begun gushing over him so quickly that Sasuke's head had spun dangerously - or perhaps that had just been from the lack of oxygen. The woman had quickly apologized for the hug - made some kind of offhand comment about the size of her bust - and then began to fuss over his hair. She then proceeded by saying how she had heard so much about him from Sakura, how delighted she was that the two of them were such good friends, and oh wasn't he just so cute?

Also, another thing that had been difficult to ignore about Mrs. Haruno was the fact that she usually went out of her way to cross those bridges which most people avoid. The whole ride to school that morning she was forever bringing up the subject of how Sasuke was an orphan. Sometimes they were only small references to his tragic past, but they were obvious ones which would have grated on his nerves, had her careless way of bringing them up not confused him so much. "Oh poor dear," she had said, attempting to take him in another dangerous hug. Sasuke had stepped out of the way immediately, quickly ducking down as if he needed to tie his shoe. "Such a tragedy - oh, we've all heard the stories."

Mrs. Haruno liked to say things like "Now I hope you're not sitting around at home in front of the TV playing video games all the time just because you live alone," or "I hope you're eating properly - a growing boy needs more than just potato chips and soda to make him strong, and oh! You are a bit puny aren't you? So scrawny. I suppose you never really had anyone older around to teach you the proper things to eat, but still...." The woman had even offered to take him in to her own home (a comment which had caused Sakura to shoot worried glanced at him from over the shoulder of her seat), and he'd politely declined.

The second time Sasuke had met the woman had been the day that Sakura had moved into the Uchiha complex with him, just weeks before. Really, he hadn't imagined that his second encounter with Mrs. Haruno could be nearly as bad as the first - but then again, Sasuke had been wrong before, and he had been wrong this time, too. Sakura's parents had only been inside his home for about two minutes, when suddenly Mrs. Haruno was sweeping him away, to talk to him "in private." She had dragged him right into the kitchen - as if she had known beforehand exactly where it was - and had then proceeded by making the two of them some tea - as if she'd already been aware of where everything was located in his kitchen.

It wasn't until two steaming cups were sitting before them at the table that she spoke, and to Sasuke's immense displeasure, he was then to discover the extent of Mrs. Haruno's blunt, straightforward manner. He supposed that he could understand her way of thinking - but honestly, he was eighteen years old, did the woman really not think that he knew what safe sex meant?

So you could understand why, the moment he heard her voice, Sasuke let out a terrified little "eep!" and hid his face beneath the blankets. It was then that Mrs. Haruno, the pink-haired grown-up and big-breasted version of Sakura herself, came skipping happily into the room. All was silence for a minute, while Sasuke hid beneath the painfully pink coverlets, eyes shut tight, waiting. And then Mrs. Haruno began to laugh, as if something were terribly funny. The next thing he knew, the blankets were being jerked forcefully out of his grasp -so much so that Sasuke nearly toppled right over the side of the bed- and Mrs. Haruno was standing there grinning madly at him. "Oh, is Sasu-chan still not feeling well?" And then, as if she had not just tried to yank him out of bed at all, she reached down all motherly-like, and placed a hand on his forehead. "You are still feeling kind of warm. Running a fever?"

And as if the present situation weren't bad enough, it appeared as if Sakura had let Sasuke's new little nickname slip, and, like mother like daughter, of course Mrs. Haruno would also be over fond of using it. Naruto, now standing just a little ways behind the woman, was holding his breath with the obvious effort not to burst into gales of laughter. For a second, even with his face flaming in embarrassment, Sasuke just wanted to reach out and smack him.

"Sasuke dear, we were so worried when Sakura told us you'd collapsed. She ran all the way here, said Naru-chan here was following behind carrying you, and sure enough, not a minute later he showed up with you in his arms. You looked so pale and weak, for a moment I was sure you were dead! You know, I was going to drive and pick the two of you up, when Sakura told me what had happened, but Naruto ran the whole way!" She turned to the blonde for a moment and said, "You're such a nice boy - don't know why Sakura talks about you the way she does sometimes..." before turning back to Sasuke.

She continued, "He seemed pretty worried about you. Out of breath and carrying you the whole way here from school.... Oh, I hope you're not coming down with anything too serious. You're still a bit pale, maybe I should get you something to eat.... Oh you're hair's all a mess, look at that. Probably stress, you know... all those damn tests, the wedding plans, upcoming graduations, and I've heard you're quite the overachiever! You know, I've always thought that the school systems were much too hard on you older students...."

Somewhere in the middle of her monologue, Sasuke had stopped listening. Mrs. Haruno continued fussing over him, licking her fingers and pressing down stray pieces of his hair, touching his skin and blathering on over nothing, but Sasuke was staring over her should at Naruto. So Naruto had actually been worried about him? The blonde was not meeting his eyes. Rather, he was looking at anywhere _but_ Sasuke, and looking rather embarrassed by Mrs. Haruno's praise.

So Naruto had just been faking a minute ago when he'd acted so casual with him....

Mrs. Haruno interrupted his bewildered thoughts with a question about food - apparently she was one of those women who loved to feed people - and Naruto instantly perked up, suggesting that they all have ramen for supper. Mrs. Haruno, of course, happily agreed, asked Sasuke if he was alright with that or if he would prefer something else (he agreed that ramen was fine), and the three of them headed out of Sakura's pink bedroom, the older woman still bothering with Sasuke's hair.

* * *

In the kitchen, about two hours later, the sun was setting in the sky just beyond Mrs. Haruno's silhouette in the kitchen window, and Sasuke sat at the table, stuffed like he'd never been before after having been served the largest bowl of ramen he'd ever seen. Naruto of course, who'd been served a bowl every bit as big and maybe even bigger, gratefully took seconds and then thirds - though Sasuke had to give it to him, by the third bowl, the blonde dobe had finally begun taking slower, smaller bites.

Sakura's mom absolutely beamed at the blonde boy. The entire time she cooked, she'd fussed on and on about how teenagers their age never ate enough, and how no one ever left her home without being properly fed. Being her daughter's future husband, and what with him being sick, of course there was no way that women was going to let Sasuke out of her sight without having him eat at least a _whole_ bowl of that ramen. He wouldn't have complained, but he was pretty sure that the servings she gave out had at least three packages of ramen in them on their own. Sasuke had been nearly whimpering with the fullness of his stomach by the time he'd finished, and had watched in half-amazement, half-disgust as Naruto practically inhaled his own down.

"There now," the large woman that was Sakura's mother said with a wide, warm grin. She patted Naruto on the back with a slender hand, and the blonde returned her grin with one of his own. "See? There's nothing that a full helping of food won't cure." She took their empty bowls, and promptly began fixing soapy water with which to clean them. It was getting a little late, and the woman finally seemed to be winding down. She kept checking the time, too. Perhaps she was waiting for her husband to get home. Well, at least she wasn't pushing for wedding details from Sasuke anymore. She'd had so many questions earlier, that Sasuke had barely been given the chance to eat.

Just then, the sound of the front door opening was nearly drowned by an almost simultaneous gasp from Mrs. Haruno, and her hands flew to her face as she seemed to forget they were already soaking wet. "I'm home!" a man's voice called from the hallway, and Sasuke and Naruto shared a quick glance.

Mr. Haruno was every single bit as strange as his wife and daughter. His own hair was dyed pink - it was his idea of fitting in with the family apparently - and the time before that Sasuke had seen the man, he'd been wearing outrageously bright clothes that had clashed terribly with the color of his hair. It didn't help that he was balding - he even did that thing you see where older guys comb their thin hair over the completely hairless place on the top of their head - and the fact that he wore large, round spectacles on the bridge of his nose. He had a warm enough smile, a small gap between the front two of his teeth, but at the time when he had first been shaking Sasuke's hands, the Uchiha boy couldn't help but gape at Mr. Haruno's horrendously orange-and-black patterned poncho.

And so it was that, as skinny Mr. Haruno came strutting into the kitchen, Sasuke was a bit shocked to see the man in a full suit-and-tie getup, a briefcase at his side. Well, at least the man apparently _knew_ the proper way to dress (sometimes). Mrs. Haruno gave a sudden little yelp, and Sasuke barely turned his head in time to see a shining, adoring look on the woman's face before she ran right into her husband's arms. Or, more like, she tackled the poor man. Like Sasuke before, Mr. Haruno's face was buried deeply in the bulk of his wife's chest, but the man simply laughed, and hugged her tightly back. Sasuke stared with mouth hanging slightly open, while Naruto snickered shamelessly.

"Oh!" Mr. Haruno exclaimed, finally retrieving his face back from his wife's breasts. He had spotted the two teenagers sitting at the table. "Sasuke and Naruto are here." He grinned happily. "My wife stuff you boys, then? She enjoys doing that. You should see the stray cats around here. They eat so much here that they hardly seem to want to come back!" He laughed loudly, throwing his head back, while his wife was still half-hugging him, crooning and touching his shoulders lovingly. Sasuke couldn't do much more than shake his head.

"And how are you my little Honeydip?" Mr. Haruno said to his wife, finally turning his attention fully on her. The woman blushed a deep red that nearly outshined the pink of her hair, and she giggled. "Not in front of the children, dear," she stage whispered, and smacked her husband lightly. Mr. Haruno kissed her forehead - he had to stand on tiptoe, seeing that his wife was taller than he - and excused himself for a shower. Mrs. Haruno stared after him for a moment, and then suddenly exclaimed "Oh! The wash!" and ran out of the room.

In the silence and air of awkwardness left in their wake, Sasuke shuddered, and turned to Naruto. "That was scary," he admitted quietly.

Naruto laughed in an obnoxious sort of way. Those blue eyes were swimming in amusement. "I think it's sweet. Kind of weird isn't it? How weird couples like that stay in love for so long? You know they've been married for twenty years?" Naruto ran his fingers through that messy blond hair of his, and sat back in his seat. "Sheesh. And I have trouble finding a one night stand these days. Twenty years, can you imagine?" He laughed.

Sasuke tried to ignore the twinge of slight jealously twisting his gut - so Naruto was looking for one night stands these days, was he? - and let his mind wander. Twenty years…. In all honesty, it was hard to envision what it would be like that far along. He and Sakura would be getting married in less than three months, but considering everything, could he really handle the rest of forever with her? Twenty years down the road, would she be looking at him with that blatant admiration, as her mother had to her father? Somehow, Sasuke just… couldn't see it. Yes, Sakura was his best friend, and she really _loved_ him. He needed her - to rebuild his clan, and, as selfish as it was, he also needed her, because he needed to feel like there was one person in the world who actually really cared about him. He'd never really felt that way from anybody before. His parent's death at the hands of his brother had left him vulnerable to emotions like that - loneliness, and pain - and Sakura had seen that. She had helped him a lot.

Still, whenever he thought of a future with her, he couldn't imagine it, just couldn't see it at all. He knew that look of such strong passion, if it ever crossed his face, would never be for her. There was only one person he'd ever look at that way, and that person was sitting across the table from him.

"Sasuke?"

The raven looked up from his sad brooding, and held his breath as he stared directly into those big pools of blue, right in front of him. He had definitely not been expecting Naruto to be leaning in so close, and the stupid blonde had the foolish raven caught up in a moment. Suddenly Sasuke realized, this was the first time he had really been alone with Naruto in a while. Or at least, so it seemed. Truthfully, he kind of missed just spending time with the dobe, whether Naruto had driven him crazy all those times or not.

Suddenly, the blonde boy cracked a wide smile. _Damn._ Did he really have to _do _that to Sasuke's poor heart? Sasuke was perfectly aware that he was about to get married, but he was also perfectly aware that he was completely, absolutely, and in every way helpless when it came to Naruto Uzumaki.

"What's with that look on your face? Don't tell me you're checkin' me out when you're about to get _married_. Tho, it's still not too late to make that porno y'know. I won't tell Sakura, I promise." And the guy actually had the nerve to waggle his eyebrows at him.

Sasuke gave Naruto the Glare O' Death, but the blonde boy just grinned tiredly, and stretched out in his seat, arms above his head and yawning widely. Sadly, on Sasuke's part, the Uchiha couldn't help but admire him. Onyx eyes saw the way the muscles in Naruto's body stretched with him, and Sasuke tried not to blush, or feel ashamed by the fact that he _was_ (as Naruto had said) checking him out, when he was already engaged to Sakura.

"You really can tell me what's wrong, y'know," Naruto continued. The small grin on his face and the light in his eyes said that he was more or less indifferent about the matter, but there was something about him letting Sasuke know that he was being completely serious.

And surprisingly, Sasuke found that he actually _wanted_ to talk to Naruto. He really did just miss spending time with him, and it wasn't as though they'd ever discussed _feelings_ with one another throughout their friendship (for several reasons, of course), but… he felt that he could talk to Naruto. Naruto, as immature as he was, was never selfish, and always understanding. Naruto was a really great guy, and Sasuke didn't know if the blonde boy saw that for himself or not.

That line of thought didn't help Sasuke feel any better. Naruto was a great guy, a _wonderful_ guy, but he would never be his. Sasuke would never have any claim on him, nor could he come close to matching up to it. So many people thought ridiculously highly of Sasuke, but there was nothing so great about him. He could never be like Naruto. The blonde boy, even without a plan at all for his future, was so outgoing that he practically shone with it.

"Ah c'mon my brooding Ice Princess," Naruto said, reaching over to pinch Sasuke's cheek. Sasuke jerked his head away a little before Naruto's hand had time to reach it, and, to his surprise, those tanned calloused fingertips of the Uzumaki lightly brushed the side of Sasuke's face. As if he'd been electrically shocked by the touch, Sasuke stared at his previous infatuation with Onyx eyes, and it was as if the past few weeks had not even happened at all. He knew that there was something important he was supposed to be remembering – something about Sakura – to keep him from staring so shamelessly at his Naruto, but through the sudden fog in his mind, Sasuke just ignored the feeling.

He wanted to _kiss _him again. The urge was so strong in Sasuke's gut that he nearly did it without thinking. He wanted to kiss him again – differently this time, rougher, right then, and everlasting. He wanted to kiss Naruto until they forgot who they were, or that they were strictly _best friends_.

And it blurted out before he could stop himself. "I'm lonely."

Had that been Sasuke's voice? It must have been. Those were his feelings, he was pretty sure. And the truth behind his words suddenly crushed him with staggering force, and his eyes filled with burning tears. He stared at Naruto until the blonde's image blurred erratically, and then Sasuke pulled his face away, looking down at the tabletop and trying to blink the tears away. "I'm just lonely," he muttered.

It wasn't something that Naruto would ever understand. Naruto was popular, and though he'd been on his own for most of his life, he had most of anything that he wanted. He had freedom and contentment, and was a fairly happy person 99% of the time. Was this deep loneliness something that he could really understand? The blonde had pulled Sasuke's heart from his chest and crushed it right in front of him, and the memory of that painful day, and the painful night that followed, was what sent the Uchiha over the edge. Without another word, he stood up, and left the room. He was feeling a bit better from being sick earlier, and he wanted to go home.

As he walked away, he heard Naruto's chair scrape the floor as the blonde stood up as well, but Naruto wouldn't follow him. He never did – and neither did anybody else.

* * *

After watching Sasuke's retreating form disappear around the corner, Naruto sat back down with an explosive sigh, and ran his fingers through his hair. "Jeez," he let out. That had really been an intense moment. Naruto didn't do well with intense, especially angsty intense. Brooding was Sasuke's thing – definitely not _his_.

But Sasuke was lonely, and Naruto was supposed to be his best friend. It had nearly killed him to see that look on Sasuke's face again. Naruto hadn't meant to touch Sasuke's cheek the way he had – it had just _happened_; an accident. He definitely didn't want to lead the guy on at this point in the game. But Sasuke's _expression_….

Ever since the day that the Uchiha had told him that he loved him and run away, Sasuke had grown cold – toward Naruto, toward _everything_; even things he might have somewhat enjoyed before. Naruto had had a bad feeling in his gut recently. Seeing Sasuke acting so… detached… it wasn't natural. And just then, there in the kitchen, suddenly it had almost been like the day of Sasuke's confession all over again. The emotions that had filled the raven's face so completely were the true ones, and Naruto wasn't entirely sure that the guy had actually meant to show them.

Suddenly, the form of Mrs. Haruno appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, but it took Naruto a moment to notice, and when he did he jumped. "Jeez, woman!" was all he got out, clutching dramatically at his heart.

Sakura's mother smiled gently. "Our Sasu-chan seems to need you pretty desperately."

Naruto just stared at her for a moment, shocked that she'd witnessed the encounter, and even more surprised by the fact that she'd grasped so much about the situation. With another sigh and the famous Uzumaki lopsided grin, he sat back in his seat again (he'd stood up when he saw her) and simply said, "You noticed huh? Yeah, I know I'm the greatest." All in all, it was a pretty lame line, but after that particular encounter, he wasn't really up for any of his usual wisecracks.

Mrs. Haruno made her way over to the sink and went back to the dishes she had abandoned earlier. "You shouldn't string him on with false feelings," she said, not even looking over her shoulder at him. "Goodness knows that poor boy has been through enough. So much tragedy in eighteen years, but maybe he's found something good in the world... through his friends." She sounded like she had a smile in her voice, and Naruto, who was listening intently, couldn't think of anything to say. So she continued, "And Sasu-chan needs close friends to lean on. Support would do so much good for him. But a bridge can't be held up by unstable bars."

"Uhh…" Naruto said brilliantly, and finally the woman turned, drying off a bowl with a hand towel. She was also grinning, so, he grinned back.

"You don't understand? I'm simply saying that if there were someone – and I'm just going to use you as an example, Naruto, dear – but if there were someone like you who wanted to help our Sasu-chan figure out what he really wants, that someone should first figure out what _they_ want. How could you expect him to be sure of himself, when you falter yourself?" For a moment, Naruto stared into the knowing eyes of Sakura's mother. How could he have ever thought of the woman as ditzy before? It was like she was seeing straight into the middle of the pile of crap that was going on with Sasuke.

And she promptly turned back to her dishes. "But I'm only using you as an example, of course."

"Yeah, of course," Naruto muttered, frowning. He got what she was saying, but what was there for him to figure out? Mrs. Haruno couldn't _possibly_ know the _entire_ situation could she? Then again, Sakura might have told her about Sasuke's crush on him before. The woman was trying to give him advice but… Naruto didn't really know what there was about himself he needed to figure out. Sasuke and Sakura were getting married, and Sasuke and Naruto wouldn't be together even if they _weren't_, and that was that.

Right?

Suddenly, inspiration hit Naruto like a brick, and he grinned. He knew exactly what Sasuke needed. "Alright, got it," he said, and stood.

"Oh? You're leaving already?" Mrs. Haruno said with a touch of dramatic melancholy. "The company is always nice, and we rarely see any of you these days."

"Yeah. Yeah I mean I, uh, think I know what to do. With Sasuke I mean."

And she smiled warmly at him. "That's a relief, dear. And be sure to come back, okey dokey? There will be plenty of fresh ramen waiting for whenever you feel like stopping by."

Naruto grinned, and inside he saw himself doing a little happy jig. Mrs. Haruno's ramen was the best he'd had in all the time since Ichiraku had been sick (it felt like it had been forever since Naruto had actually had any of that sweet noodley goodness). With a surge of happiness, he crossed the room to give the bigger woman a kiss on the cheek, and she giggled like a girl. "You're the greatest Mrs. Haruno." And with that, he was out the door.


	7. A Day For Things That Should Have Been

=A Day For Things That Should Have Been=

* * *

"Oi! Sasuke ya lazy bastard! Get out of bed and answer the door!" It was the morning after the last day of school, summer was here, and it was the first day of the rest of their adult lives (and that was adult with a capital "A"). By all rights Naruto should have been spending the day in the midst of reckless celebration - with breakfast at Ichiraku's and all the rest of the day lost in a club where one couldn't discern whether it was day or night. Instead, here he was on the doorstep of the oh-so-fabulous Uchiha mansion, for once being a reasonable and responsible friend. He'd already been standing out there for ten minutes - although, for Naruto Uzumaki, ten minutes waiting felt like a lifetime.

To his surprise, it was a sleepy eyed Sakura who finally came to the door. As was very _un_surprising, the gown she wore was pink (tho at least it was not the eyesore pink of her bedroom back at her parents' place), and her hair was a mess. Naruto grinned unabashedly. He loved women - and had it been a few years beforehand, back when he was still so in love with this pink haired minx, he would have ravished her in an instant. He couldn't help but think about how nice it would be to have someone like her, and wake up every morning next to a woman looking like _that_.

Putting off all thoughts of a morning Sakura ravishing, Naruto took one of her hands in his and flourished a mocking bow, grinning that you-know-you-want-me grin as he kissed it. Oh yes, some people might be surprised by it, but when it came to the ladies Naruto was _good_ - and he knew it. "Naruto?" Sakura asked with a tired giggle, cut off by a yawn. One of the straps of her gown slipped, revealing a soft-looking shoulder, and of course that wasn't something _Naruto _would miss. Really, had she not considered putting on a robe before answering the door?

Sakura must have recognized the blatant look on his face, because she took her hand back from him and crossed her arms over her chest, managing to look both guarded and embarrassed.

Before she could say anything, Naruto greeted her with an exaggerated, "Sakura Haruno, you are looking absolutely gorgeous this early in the morning. If Rock Lee were here, and his head didn't explode from the first look at you, he'd already be off on some spiel about everlasting beauty of the springtime of youth. Honestly, you're practically _glowing_ - and I bet anything that means you and _Sasuke_ weren't getting much sleep last night."

As was the desired effect, Sakura blushed all the way up to her hairline, until her face was nearly the same color as her hair. Naruto watched in amusement as she got a hold of herself and giggled shyly. "You've always been so slick. If I weren't about to marry the love of my life, I swear I'd consider it."

Naruto grinned again. "Your vote of confidence means more than you know," he said with the air of half-mocking adoration still ringing in his voice.

Sakura giggled. "What are you doing here Naruto?" she asked, sounding tired.

"I'm here being reasonable and responsible," he answered, and _that_ made her roll her eyes. "Since when have you ever been reasonable _or_ responsible?" she snorted.

"Don't be nasty," he told her. "Actually, I'm here for Sasuke. Didn't you hear me a minute ago?"

Sakura rolled her eyes again and pushed a stray strand of hair from her face. "Believe me, I heard you. The expression 'you're being loud enough to wake the dead' was probably meant entirely for you, Naruto." She laughed. "Come inside, I think Sasuke's in the shower. I'll go see if I can get him."

"Ooh," Naruto said, and made a noise like a frisky cat, slinking into the house behind her. "Getting Sasuke out of the shower this morning? Your relationship has really progressed since yesterday." He waggled his eyebrows at her, and Sakura gave him a look that clearly said that if it weren't so early in the morning, she'd have hit him.

* * *

All in all, for some reason Sasuke didn't seem too surprised to see Naruto there that morning, but he did seem really tired. Not even Naruto could convince him to do _anything _before he had at least two cups of coffee - cream and sugar _please_. And it wasn't surprising that the first thing Sasuke did in the mornings was get up and wash his hair. Idly, Naruto found himself wondering how the guy expected to rebuild his clan without first making an actual _move_ on Sakura. Oh, sure, he'd asked her to marry him, but had they even kissed once yet? Naruto doubted that Sasuke would even be able to hold the girl's hand without getting flustered.

Anyway, so Sakura put on some actual clothes and allowed Naruto to bum breakfast off of her - ramen for him, of course. Then she promptly pinned up her hair and, like a whirlwind, she cleaned up the kitchen and had her makeup on, giving Sasuke a shy peck on the cheek before saying that she had to meet some of the girls for coffee that morning. Apparently even three months was a scant amount of time to plan what would obviously be a ridiculously overpriced and showy wedding - she still had a lot of work to do. Naruto wondered if she'd picked out a dress yet, but every time he asked, Sakura always made a funny face and stared - almost accusingly - at Sasuke, wherever he was. "Not yet," she would say, and that was that.

So Sasuke and Naruto were alone now, and Sasuke was looking rather beat as he stared at the tabletop and sipped his third cup of well mixed coffee-cream-and-sugar. "Feeling any better today Princess?" Naruto asked playfully, and Sasuke sent him the death glare before answering.

"I'm feeling alright, I'm just tired and I have a headache." If Naruto had to guess, he'd say that the way Sasuke's eyes had looked particularly bloodshot earlier meant that the raven had spent most of the night crying. Naruto hated knowing things like that, but it only gave him more incentive to do what he was going to do.

In a flash, he stood up and took Sasuke by the arm, tugging on a now alarmed looking Uchiha. "Well come on, let's get out of here. If I know Sakura, she's bound to have a stash of Tylenol hidden around here somewhere in this place. Grab some pills and lets _go_."

Sasuke blinked at him, seeming rather breathless as Naruto dragged him around. "Where are we going?" he asked, and Naruto supposed that, if he sounded a bit afraid of the answer he was going to receive, that was totally justified.

But Naruto just grinned. "Emergency boy's day out I guess you could say. I'm going to show you the time of your life today Sasuke. You gotta get out and live a little before you get married." He paused for a moment. "And bring your checkbook. Having a good time can get expensive, and I know better than anybody that you've got money out the ass."

Sasuke snorted and said, "You're such a gentleman." But Naruto knew that he really didn't mind. He knew it because 1) Sasuke had never cared for all the money he had, and 2) the guy was blushing, and obviously not meeting Naruto's eye. Engaged or not, Sasuke couldn't resist a promising-sounding day with Naruto. Naruto just hoped that this would help him more than hurt him.

* * *

They spent the day at an amusement park - it was one of Japan's top 5, and the largest. As terrified as Sasuke had always been by the thought of roller coasters, it was no surprise that he'd never actually been on one. But to Sasuke's obvious surprise, and to Naruto's delight, they actually had a lot of fun. Sasuke's favorites were the water rides. And every time they hopped off another roller coaster or retreated, soaking wet, from one of the water rides, the guy looked scared shitless, but also out of breath and extremely pleased. There was a wild light in those Onyx eyes that Naruto had never seen before, and it wasn't long until Sasuke was laughing and dragging the blonde boy around by the arm from ride to ride.

Sasuke particularly enjoyed the funhouse experience, mostly for the fact that clowns were Naruto's No. 1 fear. While Sasuke laughed until he cried, Naruto was on edge and screaming - even he had to admit - pathetically like a girl. And once they finally emerged from that particular horror, Naruto grinned back at the Uchiha. "Alright smart guy. Let's see how well _you_ hold up inside the House of Screams."

Whereas Naruto had only screamed like a girl, Sasuke, when scared, really _was _like a girl. He clung to Naruto and shook and jumped, bit his lip and hesitated before rounding every corner. Honestly, it was cute, and it made Naruto think of what a date with a girl must be like - if he'd ever had any money to actually take a girl out with. Jeez, but he needed to get a job. His parent's life insurance money wouldn't last forever.

Even with thoughts like that, it was all Naruto could do to smile and "protect" Sasuke.

They had a quick lunch there at the park. Naruto ordered a bowl of ramen for himself, of course, and a gigantic slice of pizza for Sasuke. He laughed when he thought his friend's eyes might fall out of his head at the first sight of it. So they ate (and Sasuke, who had had a wild day and very little for breakfast that morning, actually managed to eat the entire piece of pizza he'd been given) and decided that they would go on one last ride before leaving.

Even with his slight fear of heights, Naruto thought that the Ferris wheel would be a good idea, and he knew that Sasuke would enjoy it for sure. It was honestly the biggest one that Naruto had ever seen - the thing liked like it went about a friggin' mile up into the air! - but they had a short wait in line, and they were up. They were in a green cage-like device meant for up to six people, and Sasuke, sitting across from him, was practically bouncing in his seat. After a minute or two, thy were both leaning over to look down on the world, and Sasuke was smiling happily. "Everything looks so little from here!" he called out the opening meant to be a window.

Naruto snickered from where he was looking. "Check out number six below us, there's a chick giving some guy a blow job in there. At least we know _they're_ having a good time."

Sasuke blushed a made a face. "Nasty," he said, but it wasn't long before he went back to his smiling and happy viewing. It seemed to take forever for them to finally reach the top, and that's when Naruto decided to stop looking down. He didn't _really_ have a fear of heights - being so high up just made him nervous, there was nothing wrong with that.

So, with nothing to look at but the green walls of their seat and Sasuke, Naruto ended up examining Sasuke. The guy really seemed to be enjoying himself, and while Naruto watched him smiling like that, he remembered something. He dug a disposable camera out of one of his pockets and said "Here," tossing it to Sasuke. Sasuke almost dropped it in surprise. "I meant for us to use it all day, but I forgot about it 'til now," Naruto explained with a guilty smile. Sasuke grinned and quickly snapped a picture of the world below. Naruto smiled as he went back to his watching, and Sasuke caught a quick picture of him too.

"Are you having a good time Sasuke?" Naruto asked softly, and the raven's grin faltered a little when he looked at him. Naruto wondered what the expression on his face must look like, to make Sasuke look at him like that. Then, their seat suddenly lurched forward as the contraption started moving again, and had them both grinning for the fact that it had scared them both.

"This is the best time I've had in a long time," Sasuke said, looking sheepish but truthful. "Maybe ever."

Naruto ruffled the guy's hair, making Sasuke frown and smack him away. "Good," Naruto said, and glanced at the time on his phone. "We've got about an hour and a half before it gets dark. We'll have time to stop by my place so I can get changed after this."

"Changed?" Sasuke asked, looking slightly alarmed again. "What else are we doing today?"

Naruto just smiled and shrugged. "You'll see. Now, c'mere and get a picture of us!"

* * *

Naruto had been right that morning when he'd picked him up - Sasuke was having the time of his life, and would gladly admit it if the other guy thought to ask him again. Once they were finally at the blonde's apartment, Naruto called Sakura and told her not to worry, swearing that he'd have Sasuke home in one piece later that night, making Sasuke wonder again what else was in store for him. It was getting dark out now, and he was really hoping that Naruto wasn't going to ruin everything and take him to a nightclub or something.

Sasuke thought back on the events of the day with a happy smile while he waiting for Naruto to get changed, and laughed quietly to himself a few times as he recalled the way Naruto had screamed inside the funhouse. Ironically, the other guy hadn't been scared _at all_ in the House of Screams. Of course, that particular part of the day had been embarrassing on Sasuke's part, but not nearly enough to ruin the high that he was experiencing.

It wasn't until Naruto emerged from his bedroom that Sasuke same back to the present, and at first he almost didn't believe what he was seeing. Was it his imagination, or was Naruto really dressed _nicely_, in an outfit that _wasn't _orange? Honestly, it looked like the guy had even combed his hair - and he cleaned up _good_.

Naruto grinned right at him, and Sasuke's heart skipped a beat. "Does it look alright? I kinda feel like an idiot over here."

Sasuke blushed brightly. Did he look _alright_? Oh Kami-sama, "alright" didn't even cover it. Sasuke probably would have stood there staring all night if he hadn't shook himself out of it. "That's because you _are_ an idiot. But you look good like that." Damn his voice for cracking! "So w-where are we going?"

Naruto continued to grin. "We're getting dinner."

And Sasuke blinked. "You mean somewhere _nice_?" Naruto nodded slowly, and surely Sasuke looked dumbfounded - he felt dumbfounded anyway. _Naruto_ taking them out to eat somewhere _nice_? "I… I don't have anything to wear," Sasuke said in slight distress, looking down at the well worn-in clothes he had on today. He'd been wearing them all day - sweating in them, and on all those water rides…. There was no way he could go somewhere _nice_ looking like this.

Naruto just laughed and lead Sasuke to the door. "You look good Sasuke. You _always _look good."

"_Good_?" he demanded. "Look at me, I've been wearing this all day…" But his voice trailed off, because Naruto had turned to him again, and there was an odd look on Naruto's face. Sasuke was very much aware of the fact that the two of them were standing entirely too close.

"Sasuke," Naruto said seriously, with a little smile on his lips. "You look _perfect_." And Naruto touched him under the chin just once, just for an instance, before dragging him away again. "C'mon," Naruto said. "Let's just go." And Sasuke found himself too speechless to protest anymore.

The speechlessness only lasted for a moment though, as Naruto was then doing something very odd. He was opening the passenger side door of a car for him. "A car?" Sasuke asked. "Since when do you own a _vehicle_?" They had taken a bus to and from the amusement park earlier.

Naruto grinned, looking rather pleased with himself. "It's a rental, and I only needed it for this bit. There aren't any buses going where we're going."

Surprised at Naruto's thoughtfulness, and the fact that the guy had actually paid for a vehicle (even a rental) and some nice clothes out of his own pocket, Sasuke didn't complain as he climbed into the passenger's side. "So you're going to tell me which restaurant we're going to right?" he asked as they drove away.

It took about half an hour before they reached a place called _"The Diamond," _and if Sasuke had thought that Naruto was going to pay for _this_ out of his own pocket, he probably would have shat himself. He gaped around at all the grandeur and nervously smoothed down his wild hair (he'd tried combing it in the car, with little avail) while Naruto requested that a server show them to the seats he had had _reserved_. "This place doesn't seem like somewhere that serves your average bowl of ramen," Sasuke said faintly as Naruto took his hand and pulled him away from the luxurious entrance.

They were quickly seated in what looked like a ballroom right out of a fairytale, with fine music, and elegant rich people chatting softly over their meals or from where they spun in circles on the marble dance floor. For a moment, Sasuke thought it was a good thing that he had been left such a generous amount of money from his dead clansmen - this little outing might actually make a dent in that inheritance.

Their server, which happened to be a beautiful woman with pink hair the shade of Sakura's buttoned back in pearls and clips, was at their table in an instant, asking what would they like to drink and dare she recommend their best wine? "Yeah, I'll have some of that," Naruto replied smoothly. He grinned that grin Sasuke knew so well, and for a moment, the waitress blinked at him. "And so will he," Naruto continued, nodding to Sasuke.

The serving woman's gaze flickered down at their hands, where their fingers were still intertwined, and a look of understanding crossed her face. Sasuke blushed brightly, but he didn't have the will power to take his hand back. If anything, Naruto squeezed it slightly then, but maybe that was only Sasuke's imagination. Their server smiled brilliantly, praising them on an excellent choice, and handed them expensive-looking menus that had elegant flowing font on them.

As Naruto pondered his menu, his brow creased attractively, Sasuke couldn't help staring at him in utter bewilderment. He felt so… confused, somehow. What was really going on here?

It took Naruto a moment to notice, but finally he put down his menu and asked Sasuke what was wrong. Rather than answering, Sasuke asked a question of his own. "What is this all about Naruto?"

Naruto's brow creased again, but Sasuke was sure that the look of pure innocence was a sham. "What do you mean Sasuke?" Naruto asked, but he knew what Sasuke was talking about. He had to.

"You know what I mean," Sasuke said, and wished that his voice didn't sound so… whiney and desperate.

"I just wanted you to have a good time today," Naruto replied with a shrug.

"You're lying."

Pause for an awkward moment.

Naruto didn't seem to like that particular accusation, and for a moment his eyes bored into Sasuke's. "I'm not lying," he said softly, and his eyes softened. "I _did_ want you to have a good time. But… I guess you're right…." He gave a little huff and sat back in his seat, blue eyes glancing over at the happy couples dancing and swaying to the music. "Remember this morning when I said you needed to live life a little before getting married?" Sasuke nodded a nod he knew Naruto didn't see. It was a rhetorical question anyway.

"I meant it," Naruto continued, "but not exactly how you thought I did. I wanted today to be… sort of like a date. You said you loved me right?" He turned back to Sasuke, and his expression was pleading him to understand. "I guess it's stupid, but I wanted to give you today. So you can give up on me… if that makes any sense. Jeez. I really am an idiot."

Sasuke stomach had clenched painfully. This was crazy. Naruto had wanted to take him out on a _date_? "You _are_ an idiot," Sasuke said quietly, and he couldn't help sounding hurt.

"Jeez," Naruto said again, looking a little frantic. "I'm sorry Sasuke, I didn't mean it to be like _that_. I just… I don't know. I guess I felt bad, y'know? I just wanted to give you one day. I know it doesn't make any sense but, I wanted to give you something that you can look back on happily. I guess I didn't want you to feel like loving me was a _total_ mistake."

And the blonde boy looked so distressed and wild eyed that, even through his tears, Sasuke couldn't help but laugh. How could loving Naruto have ever been a mistake? The dobe was such an _idiot_, but he was a perfect kind of idiot. He'd wanted to give Sasuke precious memories before he knew that he (Sasuke) had to move on, even when he knew that he couldn't afford most of it himself. "Thanks, Naruto," Sasuke said, sniffing.

For a moment, they looked at each other, and then Naruto brightened, and pushed a menu toward Sasuke. "C'mon, let's at least enjoy the party while we're here. Am I gonna have to order for you Princess?" The fact that Naruto would consider something like this a _party_ was laughable, and despite the fact that Sasuke hated being called "princess," he had to laugh again.

They _did_ enjoy the rest of their night. Naruto even dragged a _very _reluctant Sasuke out onto the dance floor at one point. And, as embarrassing as it was with everybody staring at the two boys dancing together, Naruto began twirling him around and grinning like the dobe that he was. All in all, Sasuke felt like he was somewhere way up in the clouds as he relished his time with Naruto. This was _their_ time - their night, just for the two of them, and Sasuke smiled, and enjoyed himself for the first time in what felt like ever.

All too soon, they were back in the car, and Naruto was driving him home. The night was over, and the ride back to Konoha was spent in total silence. Sasuke, wrapped in Naruto's coat (because clothes that had once been wet really were uncomfortable, and sometime during their dinner Naruto had given it to him to cover up with), fell asleep staring out at the lights of the city, and then he was being shaken awake.

Tanned hands were reaching over to him, and Sasuke saw that they had already made it all the way back to the Uchiha complex. In silence Naruto shut the car off, and Sasuke gave him a dazed, questioning look. "A guy always walks his date to the door doesn't he?" Naruto asked with a tiny smile. Sasuke smiled pitifully back, and together they got out and walked up to his house. Several of the lights were on inside. Probably there were about a million girls in there, discussing his wedding again, and the thought seemed so surreal to Sasuke. Had it really only been one day? It felt like an eternity.

Suddenly Sasuke brought the camera out again, and took another shot of Naruto. He smiled. "I better get a picture of you dressed up so nice, or I'll think I was dreaming by tomorrow." Naruto laughed, and snatched the camera from Sasuke's hands. Without warning, he slung an arm around Sasuke's shoulder and grinned up into the camera as he snapped a quick picture. Faintly Sasuke wondered if he himself had even remembered to smile. He always forgot himself whenever Naruto was close to him.

With camera back in hand, he glanced nervously up at his home. "Well," he said with a big sigh. "I better get in there I guess…." He couldn't help thinking about how much he _didn't_ want to be in there, how much he didn't want this night to end.

"Yeah," Naruto muttered, hands in his coat pockets (Sasuke had given the coat back to him while they were getting out of the car). Sasuke just stood there for a moment, staring at Naruto like he was waiting for him to stop him somehow. Finally, he turned, and sadly muttered a goodnight as he reached for the doorknob.

"Wait a sec," Naruto said suddenly, and when Sasuke turned back, his head swam as his Naruto stepped close to him. A tanned hand held him under his chin - was Sasuke's heart still beating? And their lips touched for one brief, sweet moment. Then Naruto was gone, and before Sasuke came to himself again, the blonde guy was already driving away.

For a while he stood there and stared down at the camera while he twirled it idly in his hands. He didn't realize that he was crying until a teardrop or two hit his fingers and the hard plastic between them. For Sasuke, it was going to be another sad, lonely night, but what he didn't know was that Naruto would be just as lonely that night as well.

* * *

****

_A/N: _

_I need ideas for what's going to happen next! I have ones of my own, just nothing terribly funny, and I'm afraid I'm going to end up writing nothing but angst. Pleeeaassee, your thoughts are most appreciated ^^_


	8. Of Kisses and Complications

_**A/N: **__Maybe I'm trying too hard to shoot for humor here, but I'm going to keep on trying anyway. I'm going to be keeping angsty Sasuke of course - that's just the way he is, and Naruto is the comic relief. (At least some things never change, am I right?) I'd like to thank some of my reviewers, because they keep encouraging me to write, be it angsty writing or not _

=Of Kisses and Complications=

**

* * *

**

Sasuke didn't know what time it was. He was lying on his bed, lost in the sound of "Battlefield" by Jordin Sparks playing from his iPod - yes, he was in the mood for sad love songs tonight. It had been about three days since his "date" with Naruto, and he hadn't seen or heard from the other guy since - not once. Sasuke didn't know how long he'd stood on the porch that night after Naruto had left him there, but eventually Sakura had come out to bring him in. She'd been surprised to find him standing there; apparently Naruto had texted her to make sure that Sasuke had gotten inside the house alright.

Sakura hadn't asked questions, and he hadn't told her. By the time she'd made him come inside, the tears had all dried, but that didn't mean she couldn't tell something was wrong. Still, with everything going on in their lives, Sakura had been too busy to talk to him about it, and even if she had, he wouldn't have fessed up to her. Sasuke had to admit, he was losing sight of the friend he used to know. Between wedding plans - being excited and stressed and busy all the time - Sakura never even seemed to sit down anymore, and he missed talking to her.

Well, he supposed that High School Sakura was gone now. You know, the Sakura that would sit on her butt all day eating Doritos while texting him and watching reruns of movies with Johnny Depp in them. Sasuke hardly even needed his cell phone anymore. Most days he just left it at home.

Sasuke supposed… it really was time to give up on Naruto. It was bittersweet really. But a day that Naruto had given Sasuke for closure had had the opposite affect. Sasuke had spent the last three days stopping by Ichiraku's every chance he got. After all, on days when he didn't have any other kind of prior engagement, he was usually Sakura's errand boy, and he used those errands as an excuse to go out of his way to linger by the dobe's favorite ramen shop. Yes, Sasuke was aware of the fact that Ichiraku's was closed, but it was still likely to draw Naruto to it at least three times a day, checking up on whether or not it was open again yet.

It was pathetic really. Sasuke had only had the guts to go to Naruto's apartment once, but the other guy hadn't been home. Sasuke had started having wild fantasies that a neighbor or random pedestrian on the street would find Naruto and inform him that Sasuke was looking for him, and in a desperate act of love Sasuke's blonde headed knight in shining armor would show up and admit his undying love.

But those were definitely not good thoughts for someone about to get married to someone else. It was time for Sasuke to call it quits on Naruto, but he just couldn't let him go. Not when things had come to this.

There was a timid knock on the door. "Sasuke?" Sakura said softly, and a silhouetted head of pink hair appeared in a crack of his bedroom doorway. Sasuke stretched to switch off his iPod player sitting on the nightstand next to him. There was silence for a moment, but Sasuke couldn't see Sakura's face in the darkness. "Can I come in?" she finally asked.

"Sure," he said.

Sakura was already in her nightgown, and tonight she hadn't bothered with a robe. Sasuke blushed a little, hoping she didn't expect anything particular from him tonight. Even if she had changed a little, Sakura should know better than that. She smiled tightly as she sat next to him on the bed, and picked at her gown, avoiding his gaze. Finally she took a deep breath and said, "I got rid of the girls." That was all she said.

"This early?" Sasuke asked. His alarm clock indicated that it was only 9:00.

Sakura laughed lightly. "Yeah. Things with the wedding are really coming together so… we don't need them around that much anymore. They still keep showing up though, wanting to help." That didn't surprise him. Wedding plans or not, stopping by the Uchiha complex to invade on Sasuke's privacy had become part of a daily routine for many of the girls of Konoha. Sasuke wondered if Sakura had had to use force to get them to leave. "Um." Sakura bit her lip. "Tenten told me that Naruto's got a job now."

"He does?" Sasuke blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected _that_. Naruto hadn't said anything about trying to get a _job_. Maybe that's why Sasuke hadn't seen him around for the past couple of days.

"Yeah. At some cheap ramen shop in town." Sakura wasn't smiling now, and she still wasn't looking at him. She twisted a pinch of Sasuke's bed sheets between her fingers. Sasuke had only seen her like this once before, when she'd been admitting that she liked him in their middle school years. Being reminded of that made him suddenly very nervous. "Sasuke…" Sakura started slowly. "What happened the other day… between you and Naruto?"

It took him a moment to register that, and Sasuke couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. "You were worried about that?" he asked, and he felt like laughing. At least she hadn't come to rob him of his virtue. Now that he thought about it though, with him moping around for the past three days and Naruto avoiding him, of course she would be worried. He'd spent an entire day out with his ex-obsession, and something had obviously happened.

So he sat up, and he told her everything. Well… almost everything. He was afraid she'd cry if he told her about the kiss. Honestly Sasuke expected her to be upset by all that he told her anyway, but Sakura just pursed her lips and gave him a calculating look like she used to do when they'd gossiped before. "Sasuke… don't you think that maybe the things Naruto did for you was _only_ so you'd move on?"

"What do you mean?"

Sakura sighed, and gave him that look of _it's hard to tell you this but you need to understand._ She's used to give him that look all the time. "I don't think Naruto just magically started feeling _feelings_ for you Sasuke. He's just a good friend for you, that's all. He was giving you one last day to be the old you. It's time to move on now." She took one of his hands in hers, and smiled gently.

Maybe she was right. Sasuke hadn't wanted to think about it… it broke his heart, but… maybe she was right. He had only been fooling himself, trying to make himself believe that going on a date with him was something that Naruto had really _wanted_. Naruto still didn't love him. Naruto still wasn't any closer to being his.

"Don't cry Sasuke," Sakura said to him. She took in another breath and gave a little huff. "Look, I know we haven't had much time to spend with each other recently, and it's really been bringing us both down. That's why I ordered Moulin Rouge off of Netflix and got rid of the girls early tonight." Sasuke looked up at her through shining tears, suddenly feeling perked up a bit. He was a sucker for musicals, and Moulin Rouge was one of his favorites. Sakura grinned at him. "Come on, we can eat cookie dough and totally veg out, Pretty Woman style."

Hand still in hers, she got him up out of bed, and as they walked downstairs together Sasuke said, "By 'Pretty Woman style' I hope you don't mean that we're going to have sex."

Sakura laughed and said, "Only if you _reeaally_ wanted to Sasu-chan," making him blush.

* * *

Life was good when you finally had a little money in your pocket (not that he'd actually gotten paid yet). That's right, if you assumed the unthinkable, you assumed correctly: Naruto Uzumaki had finally landed himself a job. Admittedly, he wanted to spend money there more than he wanted to make it, but at least he was doing something he enjoyed every day. It happened the morning after a particularly long night on the town. Naruto had said his goodbyes to Sasuke and ended up at a nightclub, with a burning desire to get absolutely hammered, and see how many women he could make out with by the end of the night.

To his utter misfortune, Naruto realized that after having such a good time out with Sasuke, it was almost impossible to find a girl that he wanted anything to do with. Every girl that he wanted to dance with had short, black hair - but her eyes were always off, either by color or shape. Why couldn't he find one girl in the whole damn club who had black duck butt hair and Onyx eyes; a pretty thing who would let him get a kiss?

Those thoughts were only after more than a few drinks - Kyuubi had already given up on trying to get him to stay away from the alcohol, and had also given up on keeping him sober no matter how much he drank - and Naruto didn't realize that it sounded a whole lot like he just wanted to kiss Sasuke again. When it finally occurred to him that he needed to talk to Sasuke - not that he knew _why_ he needed to talk to him, or why he felt that the matter was urgent - he stumbled drunkenly out of the club and, promptly, threw up.

Naruto _hated _throwing up. _Dear Kami-sama… Kyuubi never let me drink again._

That was when he'd seen the Help Wanted sign in the window of the ramen shop across the street, and things suddenly clicked together inside his head. He'd been thinking about how he'd needed a job right? But it was pretty sad that one could get a job stumbling, and obviously intoxicated, out of a club in the middle of the night. True that it wasn't the best job in the world (for anyone other than Naruto Uzumaki, anyway) and it didn't pay the greatest, but a little pay was better than no pay at all, and Naruto was practically buoyant as he skipped home from work about three days after what he was now calling The Sasuke Incident.

At least, he was happy until he made it home. It wasn't the first thing he noticed, but as he was kicking off his shoes at the door, his eyes caught sight of an envelope at his feet. He frowned, picking it up. Most mail (not that he ever got much of it) was put inside this box for him right outside the building, _not_ shoved through the crack under his front door. The envelope was a dark shade of brown, and thick. It had no name on it - no return address. Curious, Naruto opened it.

"Oh jeez," he said with a sigh, and blew a strand of hair out of his face. It was the five pictures he and Sasuke had taken together the night of their date.

The first shot was of the view from the top of the Ferris wheel - Sasuke had admitted later that he'd never been on one before, and that's why he'd been so excited. And unlike actually being on the ride, just looking at a picture of the view didn't make Naruto _quite_ as nervous. The second picture was of himself, smiling almost sadly as he looked into the camera - not that he'd actually been looking into the camera at the time. He'd been looking at _Sasuke_, who'd surprised him with the picture.

The third was of he and Sasuke sitting in that green seat together, and they were both smiling in this one. Naruto didn't think he'd _ever_ seen Sasuke smiling in a picture – and that was a lot, considering he'd even caught a few glimpses of Sasuke's _baby_ photos in the Uchiha mansion. In the picture that Naruto held in his hand, Sasuke was flushed and looked a little out of breath and overwhelmed, but happy. Naruto didn't even look at the last two pictures. He just slipped them all neatly back inside the envelope, and tossed it onto the table.

Okay, he'd just gotten back from work, but it was already time for an emergency ramen session. As late as it was, and as unlikely, maybe Ichiraku was finally back.

* * *

_Stupid, stupid, stupid Sakura! _Sasuke didn't like this. He didn't like this at all.

After watching Moulin Rouge on his living room couch the night before, Sakura had walked Sasuke back to his bedroom (as cliché as that sounded) and had given him a piece of what she obviously felt was sound advice. They'd had a good time that night, laughing and getting completely into the movie, and for once Sasuke had felt the weight of the world lifting off his shoulders a bit. For just a bit, it had felt like old times between he and Sakura. She had always known just the way to cheer him up whenever he was down. Throughout the duration of their friendship, every time she had even suspected Sasuke of being even remotely depressed, she'd shown up (unexpectedly) at the Uchiha mansion, raring for a slumber party.

At first, the whole slumber party ordeal had made Sasuke quite nervous, seeing as Sakura was a girl and he was a guy and spending the night together was probably not the most proper thing to do. But, Sakura had always known the way to his heart, bringing armfuls of movies that would make them both laugh and cry, not to mention the fact that it was during the late night slumber parties with her that she'd gotten him completely addicted to junk food – which, by the way, he'd never eaten much of in his life time. Being an Uchiha, he'd grown up surviving on only the necessary amounts of needed foods. For weeks after the first experience with cookie dough and potato chips, Sasuke had lived through what could only be described as a sugar induced high – every day was another bouncing-off-the-walls experience.

So, Sasuke had been feeling particularly alright with the world – not deliriously happy, of course, but content anyway – that night as Sakura walked with him through the large, empty house. They had had an awkward moment standing in his doorway (well, awkward for Sasuke anyway). He'd turned to grin and thank her, when Sakura's expression caught his attention – that almost pouty, soft-eyed look that practically begged _can I sleep with you in your bed tonight?_

Before Sasuke had had a chance to get his thoughts together in order to say anything, she had spoken first, surprising him with the topic of conversation that so conflicted with the look on her face. "You know, about Naruto… maybe you could just talk to him. You need to put him behind you, but he is one of your _best _friends. I know he's going to be the best man at the wedding and all, but probably it'd be wise not to go an entire three months or so without speaking to each other."

"Maybe…" Sasuke had muttered, staring down at his feet. But he was feeling too good that night to let thoughts of Naruto bring him down, and he knew that, that night at least, he wouldn't even consider it. It would only make him sad and stress him out again.

Then, Sakura had put a hand on his arm, and leaned close to give him a soft peck on the lips. Startled, Sasuke blushed a furious red, his mind blanking out on him. "I had a good time tonight," she said, still standing about an inch away, and her voice almost had a husky hint to it.

"Y-yeah," he started to agree, but then, she was kissing him again, and Sasuke was suddenly feeling a bit frantic. He could feel Sakura's lips moving against his, urging him to kiss her back, but Sasuke's entire body had gone numb. The part of his brain that told him how to function his body parts bad suddenly blue screened on him.

With wide eyes, he'd seen Sakura's brow crease, and she finally stepped back from him. Sasuke didn't know what the expression on his face had been at that point – shock? Revulsion? The more he thought about it, the worse he felt.

A little coldly, Sakura had bid him goodnight and walked, stiff-backed, in the direction of her room.

And that was why Sasuke was here today, standing where he was.

So, Naruto had a job now. That was obviously the reason why he wasn't answering his door – right? He just wasn't home right now – right? It had taken enough guts for Sasuke to drag himself out here, and even more to actually gather the nerves to start knocking. It had been about ten minutes already, but so far - nothing. He took a deep breath, steeling himself, and knocked again.

That morning when he'd woken up, Sakura was nowhere to be found. She had left him a sticky note up on the refrigerator saying that she'd needed a day out with the girls. That was all it said. _Needed a day out with the girls_. No cutesy stuff, like little hearts or swirlies or smiley faces like Sakura would normally leave for him. No _I love you_s, or a drawn out explanation of where she was going and why that would have taken at least the writing space of five sticky notes (yes, she had done it before).

So who do you go to when your future wife slash best friend is pissed at you? Ba-da-da-daaa! Naruto Uzumaki of course! _Shit._

He still didn't like it.

Truth be told, Sasuke knew that he still had time to back down if he wanted to. If he wanted, he could just turn around right then and go home before Naruto even knew that he was there. Yes, that sounded absolutely perfect; he could go home, spend the day fretting over Sakura, and, when his wife-to-be finally came home, he'd beg her forgiveness and… what? Sweep her off her feet? Let her have the lovin' that she wants, even when he could hardly stand to think of her that way?

And that's when it dawned on him. Oh. Dear. Kami-sama. He didn't think of Sakura that way. At all. He _just didn't think of Sakura that way_. And he was getting married to the woman!

"Wow. It's not everyday I come home to Sasuke having a mental breakdown on my porch."

On the verge of hyperventilating as he was, the sound of Naruto Uzumaki's voice really did nothing good for his state of mind - or his poor little heartbeat, which kicked into turbo drive as soon as he realized who was speaking to him. Slowly, Sasuke straightened himself up from his half crouched position of suffering, and looked down at the blonde haired boy whom he'd last seen on his own doorstep, after a fateful… wait.

"You look ridiculous," Sasuke snorted. Oh. Dear Kami-sama. He couldn't believe that those were the first words out of his mouth after four days without seeing him.

Nonetheless, Naruto did look quite ridiculous. Was that really a work _uniform_? It looked nothing short of absurd. Was that a bowl-of-ramen shaped hat Naruto had on his head? It completely swallowed all of his blonde spikes, and to make things worse, the thing was the same tan color of Naruto's skin, making it look as if he had a rather large and very unattractively swelled head. There was also a vest, a red one, that clashed terribly with the bright Naruto Orange underneath.

As smooth as he was, of course Naruto didn't take offense to that statement. "Nice to see you too Princess," he said, grinning tiredly. "Now if you wouldn't mind taking your emotional struggle somewhere else, I just ate my _weight _in ramen, and I'd like to get inside my apartment and sleep it off for a while."

Sasuke was already making a face at him. Really, what had he expected; to see Naruto all dressed up in that nice outfit again, welcoming him with open arms? That was way too much to expect from a guy like Naruto. That one day had really been a once in a lifetime experience - in several ways. Sasuke was already not liking how this little meeting was going.

"Well?" Naruto demanded, making shooing motions with his hands. "Are you going to move or are you going to stand there staring at me all day?"

It was surprisingly easy to dig up the old death glare for the other guy. "Your nametag's on upside down." And he threw in a muttered, "Idiot," for good measure.

Naruto was exaggeratedly frowning down at his breast. "It is indeed," he noted, and pushed Sasuke aside so that he could get into his apartment.

Honestly, Sasuke felt completely scandalized. "You…!" he spluttered, following Naruto inside without consent. "…are… _completely_…" What was a good word for Naruto? "Nonsensical!" Naruto quickly gave him a disbelieving sort of look that clearly said _I can't believe you just said that_. Not because it was a direct insult; more probably because Naruto didn't know what the word 'nonsensical' means.

Sasuke was in the mood for insults. Lots of them. Quickly he gathered every word in his vocabulary that was a synonym for the word _idiot_. Irrational And Emotionally Strained Sasuke had come out to play. "You are the biggest… dunce… you are such a dimwitted _ignoramus, _the most _loathsome_ simpleton, the greatest blockheaded _dumbbell_ I have _ever_ had the misfortune to come across!"

Naruto was clapping even before Sasuke was done. "I'm really proud of you my little Sasu-chan," he said playfully while Sasuke stood there breathing fire through his nostrils. "You're actually standing up for yourself for once. You know, I never thought I'd actually see you get _this_ mad at me. I don't think I even know half the words that just came out of your mouth. Really impressive Mr. Infinite Vocabulary."

"Shut up Naruto," Sasuke said coldly. How in the world had the day come to this? Sasuke had only come to talk. To think he'd actually thought that Naruto would _listen _when Sasuke came here to talk about his problems! And why was Sasuke so _angry_ with him? Was it because he'd come half expecting to see Naruto transformed? Was it because it was obvious now that the only reason Naruto had taken him out the other day was completely for _Sasuke's closure_, and had nothing whatsoever to do with any kind homosexual emotions Naruto might actually have for him?

In silence, Naruto stared at Sasuke with solemn blue eyes. Those eyes were like ice. Naruto picked up something from his kitchen table, wordlessly holding it out to Sasuke. "Maybe you _have_ moved on," Naruto said, and his voice was as cold as his eyes. "I don't want these."

It was the envelope Sasuke had hardly had the guts to push through the crack of Naruto's front door the one other time he'd come to his apartment in the last few days. And in that moment, Sasuke felt his heart break. He shoved Naruto's hand, with the envelope, away. "Then throw them away!" he hissed, and was out the door in a flash of Uchiha fury, slamming it behind him as he went.

* * *

Sasuke went straight home. He didn't think about the fact that the house would be empty; actually, he didn't really think at all. Instinctively he knew that he couldn't allow his mind to wander, couldn't take in the fact that his entire body was shaking with what he thought was rage, because he knew that if he did, it would hurt. It would hurt a lot.

When Sasuke arrived home, slamming the front door behind him, he was surprised to see Sakura's shoes in the entrance. What had happened to that day out with the girls she'd said she needed? And as Sasuke kicked off his own shoes, the pink haired girl herself came into the living room, looking alarmed. "We need to try kissing," he demanded, straightforwardly. He hated the fact that his voice sounded so panicky and out-of-wack.

Sakura looked bewildered. From across the room he heard her suck in her breath. "Sasuke, what-?"

"We're getting married so we should at least be kissing," he pressed, cutting her off.

After another short moment of surprise, Argumentative And Confused Sakura gave over to Just Agree And Give Him What He Wants Sakura. A little breathlessly she said, "Well alright Sasuke, if you want to try kissing then we'll try kissing."

"Alright!" he said too loudly, making her jump. She was standing near him now.

For a full thirty seconds or so, the two of them simply stood and looked at each other - Sasuke embarrassed and fuming while his wife-to-be just stared at him. Finally she gave a hopeless little gesture. "So are we just gonna… do this… or…?"

Sasuke didn't think. He grabbed Sakura by the waist, and dipped her the way they did it in the movies (she even made the surprised little "Oh!" exclamation). Then, promptly, he smashed their faces together.

And it was at this point that Sasuke really stopped lying to himself. The kiss was awkward, and frustrating. The more awkward it was, the more frustrated he became, and then the harder he tried. Sakura obviously wasn't enjoying it, as she was making little noises of protest, but Sasuke was determined to make this thing work. They were getting _married_ for goodness sake!

Finally, Sakura pushed him off of her, and gasping for breath she gave a little half-hysterical laugh. "Sasuke that is _not_ how you kiss a woman."

"So show me!" he cried desperately, half reaching out to her and blinking back angry tears.

But Sakura was through with being fooled. She stared at him with that inquisitive, calculating look again. "This isn't really about the kissing, is it?" she asked. "Did something happen with Naruto?"

Damn! She knew him too well. "No, nothing happened with Naruto!" he sputtered. "Naruto has nothing to _do_ with this - Naruto isn't even important."

"You just said his name too many times for him not to be important."

Damn.

"I just want to be able to _kiss_ you Sakura," Sasuke said, before he could let conflicting emotions take him over.

"Alright then," she said simply. And abruptly the mood changed. Apparently it was her turn to show him how it was done - and she _really _kissed him. Was this something she had thought through so thoroughly in one of her fantasies? She didn't even hesitate at all!

The kiss was deep, and hard, and hot. She kissed him senseless, and if Sasuke's mind had been spinning before, it was really whirling now. Sakura kissed him until he was groaning with the need to breathe.

Sasuke had to admit that he liked it. Sakura (he should have known) was a _very_ good kisser. Maybe it was just the fact that she'd wanted to kiss him for so long, and had had it all planned out, or maybe she was just as frustrated as he was. Sasuke couldn't really concentrate enough to think about it, and finally, they broke apart.

So when the kiss was finally ended and they were both flushed and panting, Sasuke found that he couldn't look away from her. What had they just done? Here they were holding one another in the entrance way (although, it was more like Sakura was holding _him_; she really was the man in the relationship, as painfully reminded of it as he was) and Sakura's eyes were shining with desire. In that moment, if she had wanted to take things any further, Sasuke wouldn't have argued against it - she had to have known that. She knew, but she broke the intense eye contact.

She rubbed one of his arms comfortingly - gently, almost sisterly and caring. "Now are you going to tell me what happened?" she asked softly.

A sharp stab of guilt made tears well up in Sasuke's eyes again. Sakura had always been, first and foremost, his closest friend, and she did not deserve the lukewarm love that was all he had to give to her. She would not take advantage of this moment, because she knew that he was upset. She had agreed to marry him because she really _loved_ him.

Sakura was determined to take care of him in a way she knew Naruto never could. And yet, she had never backed down from the task of helping Sasuke through his problems with Naruto; she had never gotten openly jealous, and she had _never_ hurt him or made him feel bad about it at all. Even now that they were getting married, she was still there to help him make it or break it.

Sasuke wondered, why couldn't things just be simple and uncomplicated? Why couldn't he just _love her back_?

"Yes," he finally said, nodding and sniffling.

* * *

_**A/N: **Quick question: Am I dragging the story out too much? Tell me what you think._


	9. Something About That Kismet

_**A/N: **__Okay, so this is a shorty chapter. Wanna know why? 'Cause I've had this saved on my hard drive for about two weeks already, and the upcoming Bachelor Party of Doom deserves it's own chapter. So look forward to that. =)_

=Something About That Kismet=

* * *

Three months passed in a blur of emotions, and, as the wedding date grew nearer, an air of anticipation hung in the atmosphere of Konoha. Sakura, of course, was delighted; she seemed to light up a little more every day. The date was set and everybody who was anybody would be there – all the arrangements, necessary or not, had been made, and the upcoming wedding was nothing short of inevitable. And Sakura could hardly contain herself.

As far as kissing (or any other type of physical interaction between the bride-and-groom-to-be) went, Sakura and Sasuke had honestly not progressed a whole hell of a lot. They had made out a total of three times, counting that time standing in the entryway of the Uchiha mansion (and, yes, Sasuke had been keeping count). Those little exchanges between the two of them, on the whole, had been awkward. Or at least, they had all ended awkwardly. For a little while, they'd lose themselves in each other, kissing deeply and passionately until… let's say… things got out of hand. Sometimes, Sakura expected more from Sasuke than he could give.

Not to mention, that aside from being on the verge of deliriously happy, Sakura's short temper had managed to shrink to a microscopic level. She was irritated by the smallest things; she could snap at nothing and complain until anyone listening started bleeding from the ears. Remember way back when it was mentioned that Sasuke and Sakura could carry on a fight even worse than Sasuke and Naruto could? Well, some things never change.

Angry Sakura usually resulted in stressed, angry Sasuke, and often times he would leave the house, headed nowhere, after being either kicked out, shoved out, or having something thrown at him. If he and Naruto were still conversing, there was no doubt as to where he would go on days like that, but most of the time he just ended up by himself in the middle of town with nothing to do and a lot of people staring at him. Girls would giggle behind their hands and point at him, others would approach him with a dangerous look in their eyes – with the wedding finally coming up, some of the more persistent fangirls were getting even more desperate.

Afraid for his life on a particularly hard-to-handle afternoon, Sasuke ducked into the steamy interior of a random food place in town. He'd been on the run for the last two blocks and he was ready to find a place to sit down – and something to drink. Sasuke had never been much of an alcoholic (Naruto had always said that Sasuke was too fragile for that) but lately he'd been getting a lot of headaches, and he needed something to calm his nerves.

Sasuke was glancing nervously behind him when a server got his attention. "May I seat you sir?"

It wasn't until that moment that he realized that what he'd ducked into was a ramen shop. He gaped at the server, and looked around to make sure that he was seeing the right thing. All the cooks and the waiters were wearing that same ridiculous outfit that Naruto had been wearing the last that Sasuke had seen him. This had to be the place where the dobe worked – surely two restaurants in town would not make the mistake of dressing their employees so hideously. "Uhh… yeah," he replied to the waiter, still distracted. Yes, of course he would take a seat. It just seemed natural that he should check out the place where Naruto worked. He didn't actually see Naruto around, so it should be okay.

"Hey, look who it is," one waiter said grinning, throwing his arm around the one who was supposed to be showing Sasuke his seat.

And then Sasuke realized that he was looking at two of his former classmates – Shikamaru Nara and Kiba Inuzuka. It was difficult to recognize anybody who was wearing that uniform, with that bizarre bulging hat swallowing half their head.

Now that the other waiter (Shikamaru) could see him clearly, he was grinning as well. Sasuke had never really been close acquaintances with the two of them, but they'd been friends with Naruto, and hung around often. They used to really get a kick out of all the picking Naruto did at him, and sometimes they'd even join in. The memories were embarrassing, but Sasuke steeled himself and managed to fake a casual expression. "So is this a restaurant or what?" he asked, gesturing vaguely that he would like to sit down.

Shikamaru snorted. "If you could call it that," he agreed, and showed Sasuke to a booth.

"Kiba!" another employee called from behind the counter, shouting over people's heads. The guy must have been a manager, because his vest was mustard yellow rather than red. Kiba cursed under his breath before saying a quick "See ya," to Sasuke and walking off.

"So what brings you to this pathetic excuse of a ramen shop?" Shikamaru asked. "Aren't you used to places finer than this? Or are you just here to see Naruto?" He spoke mockingly, and waggled his eyebrows.

Sasuke gulped hard at the mention of Naruto and pretended to be looking at the menu. "Actually I'm hiding," he muttered.

Shikamaru laughed. "From who?"

"Girls in town."

"Oh, I get it." The guy winked. "They're getting bold now that their precious Sasuke's getting married. If any of them come in, I'll send 'em off."

"You can do that?" Sasuke asked incredulously. It really didn't look like this place could afford to send it's customers away.

But Shikamaru just shrugged. "We get away with pretty much anything. It's not like they'd actually be coming in here to eat, anyway. I could say they're harassing the customer." Sasuke let out an explosive sigh of relief, and relaxed in his booth. "Are you alright man? You look like you've been through hell."

"Actually, do you have any Tylenol or… anything? It feels like my skull is cracking."

"Just the thing," Shikamaru said with a grin, and just like that, pulled a little bottle of pills from the pocket in his waist apron. He didn't give Sasuke a chance to read the label before popping the top open and spilling three round white pills on the table. "Don't ask, but it's guaranteed to make your headache go away." Sasuke eyed the pills warily, and glanced back up in time to see Shikamaru wink at him. "If your head's killing you that much, you'll take them. Now… what can I get you to drink?"

Sasuke fiddled with the little tablets, trying to give the impression that he needed something to drink in order to take them. "Do you serve warm sake?" he asked.

He must have looked seriously desperate, because Shikamaru laughed at him. "Under normal circumstances, no, but I guess the famous Sasuke Uchiha could be considered a special guest. I'll be right back with something that'll warm you up for sure." And with that promising but slightly alarming statement, he disappeared into the crowd of customers and ridiculously dressed waiters and waitresses. Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief again, and slipped the tiny pills inside one of his pockets. Honestly, with the state the floor was in, it looked like a few small tablets would not make much of a difference, but he didn't want to take the pills, and he didn't want to be responsible for some druggy picking them up and taking them either.

Shikamaru made good on his promise, bringing Sasuke what looked like (at least, what he hoped was) a normal cup of warmed sake. The guy winked at him again, saying that since Sasuke was so rich and was getting served so well, that he should at least leave his waiter a good tip. Sasuke made a mental note to make sure that he did leave Shikamaru something good. The ramen shop didn't look like it paid very well, and the guy was being nice enough.

Sasuke wasn't really hungry, and the smells wafting from the kitchen were nauseating, but he ordered a serving of ramen anyway, hoping that maybe having a bowl in front of him would help him kill time and keep him from wanting to leave any time soon. He wouldn't eat it of course.

And it was with Sasuke luck that, while he was sitting in his booth poking at his mound of flavored noodles, Naruto Uzumaki walked in. At first he didn't notice. He was preoccupied by the thing in front of him that was supposed to be edible. It was difficult not to recognize Naruto's voice though, even if you weren't Sasuke Uchiha, and he looked up as soon as he heard that familiar laughter. The blonde was standing up front, talking with Shikamaru. And, of all things, he had his arm wrapped around a petit pretty brunette. Sasuke watched with scandalized eyes as Naruto's right hand casually slid down her lower back to one of her buttocks. The brown eyed girl was watching Naruto with a naughty tilt to her expression. Shikamaru didn't notice a thing.

"Actually a friend of yours turned up earlier," he barely heard Shikamaru say over the general clatter of people eating and ramen cooking. And Sasuke realized that Shikamaru was going to bring Naruto over to him.

It must have been really childish of him, but Sasuke squealed under his breath like a little girl, and slid down in his seat to duck down behind his booth. A man eating (or attempting to eat) his ramen in the next booth over gave him a strange look. Sasuke ignored him, and stayed crouched with his eyes shut tight, praying to Kami that this was just a bad side effect to the sake Shikamaru had served him and that Naruto wasn't really there at all. He hadn't seen the blonde once since that day in his apartment.

"Sasuke?" Naruto's unmistakable voice asked from somewhere above. Sasuke opened his eyes to look up at the towering blonde figure of Naruto and his woman staring down at him – and Shikamaru standing not too far away, grinning but looking a bit confused.

Sasuke stood on Shaky legs, and navigated around his audience of three to sit back in his seat like nothing had happened. "Hi," he said, and wished his voice wasn't choosing now to go all high pitched on him again.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked. Suddenly Sasuke recognized the girl standing at the other guy's side. She'd been a frequent wedding planner girl at his house before. She'd also been one of the ones who were the hardest to get rid of. She was staring at Sasuke as if she were calculating some difficult math problem in her head which involved him.

Sasuke shrugged, unsure of what to say, and angry. Yes, he was angry. Dammit, he'd been having a bad day – hell he'd been having a bad couple of months – the last time he'd seen Naruto, the blonde guy had well as rejected him, and now he shows up here with some woman on his arm. One of Sasuke's fangirls no less!

Sasuke supposed that he really had no room to be angry, but his headache was still pounding and he was feeling irrational.

"You stalking me now?" Naruto asked, half-grinning but also sounding half-serious.

"Totally," Sasuke replied, rolling his eyes. For good measure, he gave his ramen another poke with his chopsticks. "Do you actually eat this?" he demanded.

"Of course I actually eat it," Naruto replied just as bitterly, and Sasuke knew why. It usually took a lot to rattle Naruto's nerves, but don't ever start with his ramen. He gets real defensive, real fast. "What are you doing here Sasuke? Were you looking for me about some wedding stuff or something, 'cause I don't wanna even hear that this is a coincidence."

Sasuke snarled up at him, mostly for the fact that this really was a coincidence, but Naruto wouldn't believe that even if he told him. "Actually I was just leaving," he said, standing up. He tried hard to avoid not physically bumping into Naruto, because the guy wasn't backing up to let him through at all. It must have been some sort of fox-like territorial thing.

"Good," Naruto said as Sasuke slinked past him. "Well, looks like this booth's open now." And he grinned, taking Sasuke's seat and smoothly pulling the girl into his lap. She blushed, but looked pleased, and gave him a seductive kiss on the neck that nearly shattered the last of Sasuke's sanity. Naruto contributed a promiscuous grin of his own, making Sasuke scoff angrily.

"Don't forget the rehearsal's on the fifteenth."

Naruto didn't even look at him. Obviously, he was pretending to be too into his woman to spare Sasuke any attention. He was looking into her eyes with that suggestive grin on his face. "Oh I know," he said to Sasuke. "Sakura already called me about it."

"Well, that takes care of that then." And Sasuke stormed away, retrieving those little pills from his pocket and popping them into his mouth as he left the love of his life behind, with a girl sitting his lap.

* * *

Who did Sasuke think he was? Naruto was so pissed he could have breathed fire – not that he was showing it outwardly, of course. Sayori was still in his lap, breathing heavily on his neck, and she kept making little sounds as she kissed his skin that, honestly, grossed him out a little. She was a bit obnoxious, but she knew what she wanted and….

"How about we get away from here?" she asked innocently, glancing up at him with Onyx eyes through long dark eyelashes.

Suddenly Naruto remembered why he had picked her to be with. He grinned back at her. "I've already ordered my ramen, silly." She pouted, so he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Just let me eat, and we can go back to my apartment. Promise." He nibbled her top piercing, and she shuddered, gasping a little. He considered sneaking a hand up her skirt then, but was distracted by a bowl of ramen being placed in front of him.

Licking his lips (because of the ramen, though it did make Sayori's grin return), he dove into the noodley goodness, forgetting all about Sasuke for a time.


	10. Bachelor Party of Doom

_**A/N: **__I'm estimating two, maybe three chapters after this, if I decide to go for a prologue. The wedding's coming up people! So look forward to that =)_

_Btw feel free to keep telling me what you think._

_Reviewers make me happy! …or, a large portion of them do, anyway._

_Also, I know that I make quite a few minor mistakes… I really should look over my chapters more thoroughly, but in all honestly, I'm mostly too lazy, and I want to get any new chapters up as quickly as possible for you guys._

_I feel bad whenever I take too long to write one, and you're all left waiting._

_I usually read over and revise later on. So sorry guys! It's just a bad habit of mine I guess._

=Bachelor Party of Doom=

* * *

"Naruto Uzumaki is an asshole!"

Well, that certainly wasn't something Sasuke was used to waking up to every day. Then again, Sasuke really didn't care what was going on this particular sun-shiny morning. It was the day after the incident at the ramen shop, and whatever the hell Shikamaru had given him to get rid of his headache had definitely done its job – and then some. However, what Shikamaru hadn't told him was that his headache would be back – with a towering vengeance.

And so it was that Sasuke somewhat staggered into the kitchen that morning (already fully dressed and clean of course – the day that the Uchiha stepped out of his bedroom indecent would be the day that Konoha would explode), feeling like his brain was trying to squish its way out through cracks in his skull. If he hadn't been so dead to anything besides the numb feeling of his head pounding, he would have recognized that one of the girls sitting at his kitchen table was the very same whom he had last seen sitting in a certain Uzumaki's lap the day before. As it was, even the mention of Naruto's name was not enough to force him from his miserable stupor.

"All I wanted was to get laid. Do you know how long it's been? Like. Three friggin' months." She sounded on the verge of crying, but Sasuke only recognized that because it was loud and particularly annoying. Obviously, she was complaining about something stupid, and he just wanted to get his coffee and get out of there before any of the women at the table decided to pay him attention.

It was not unusual for him to find Sakura sitting in the living room or the kitchen chatting with a group of her friends, but normally it was not this early in the morning. Still, he didn't think that was unusual or significant at all. Or at least, he simply did not care if it were unusual or significant.

"Oh Sayori," one of the other girls cooed sympathetically. There were three of them, including Sayori. Sasuke didn't bother to see if he recognized any of them. "So what happened?"

"Well, we met at the bar the other night," Sayori began. "We danced and he asked me out. I seriously considered saying no – which I should have," she sounded exasperated "- because you know how much I used to hate Naruto. But god, he looked so good. He was smiling at me and totally running his hands all down my body. I mean, it was hot." If Sasuke had been paying attention, he would have known the smile she must have been talking about. He would have seen it clearly in his head, as if the last time he'd seen that smile had not been so long ago. "I probably would have just gone with him then and there if he'd asked me, but I didn't want him to think I was a total slut to just give it up right after meeting him. So we went out yesterday and it was such a sure thing. I mean, he really got me going – kissing my neck and groping all over me before we even got to his apartment."

She stopped to take a breath while Sasuke swallowed down some Ibuprofen, and he thanked Kami above for that moment of quiet. Yep, more pills. Ironic, right?

"So we started making out," Sayori continued, slowing down the speed of her speech for the climax of her story. "Then he decides that we should take a shower, which was…" she shuddered audibly, "… a total turn on. So we got in the shower, and his bod… better than I'd dreamed. But then suddenly it was like… right in the middle of our shower he totally lost interest in me." Sasuke winced as again she sounded like she was going to cry. "He said he was sorry and asked me to leave. It was so freaking depressing! I wanted to kill myself."

"Don't take it s personally, hun," one of the girls comforted her as Sasuke left the room.

"Sasuke!" Damn. Sakura had noticed him. He winced at the sound of her voice. "Sasuke," she said, clinging to him in the hallway. He tried not to look annoyed. "Hey… I'm sorry about yesterday. I know - it seems like all we do is fight anymore." She pouted, but continued on before he could say anything. "So… tonight's the big night."

"The big night?" he repeated somewhat groggily.

She looked at him as if he were missing something obvious, but seeing as his head was hurting so much, he didn't even notice that. "Yeah. My bachelorette party. The girls are taking me out tonight." She smiled and batted her eyelashes playfully. "I told you about it yesterday. Don't you remember?"

"No…. I think I missed it in the middle of all your shrieking."

For an instant, Sakura's face fell, and her eyes squinted _just_ a bit. If he were paying any attention, he would have recognized that look. She was pissed. But she took a deep breath and said, "I'll forgive you for that since we're getting married next week." She gave him a quick kiss, which threw him off guard a little bit. "But… don't be surprised if I find a way to get you back later." And as she scurried back into the kitchen, Sakura gave him a malicious grin that, honestly scared him. He did not like that look. It meant that the wheels in Sakura's head were turning.

* * *

It was a nightmare.

A nightmare.

An absolute _nightmare_.

Oh, since the girls are going out tonight, why not kill two birds with one stone and have the boys over for Sasuke's bachelor party? Oh, what a wonderful idea. Of course Sasuke would _love_ to be stuck at home all night with a group of Konoha's most masculine and party wild men.

Before Sasuke had even been given the chance to protest, it was done. All friends of Sakura's who were taking her out that night were on their cell phones calling or texting up their significant others. No doubt they were threatening the men with no sex for a month if they didn't show up and give Sasuke company. Sasuke had actually been looking forward to a night at home alone. For some reason the girls thought that he would be _lonely_ that night without Sakura there.

"Okay Sasuke-kun!" some of the girls called as they left, telling him to have a good night and waving goodbye. The amount of women accompanying Sakura that night was shocking, and as the mass of girls were leaving the house there were many giggles and smiles and winks thrown his way. Sakura was grinning as she grabbed her purse, kissing him on the cheek before leaving with them.

And so now had Sasuke not_ only _had his one night of peace stolen away, but he quickly had to prepare his house for his "guests," and the raucousness that would surely ensue. To put it bluntly, he was not looking forward to this. Why did his future seem so bleak all the time now? Would he never get any time to himself again?

It was with a heavy sigh that he went upstairs to put on something nice. Maybe if he wore something he thought he looked good in, the boost of self-confidence, or at least the feel of having composure on the outside, would be enough to get him through the night. He had a bad feeling that booze would be involved, even if there were none in the house when they arrived, and with some of the guys he knew, the whole affair could last well into the night.

Neji Hyuga was the first to show up. Sasuke had heard many a time that he and Neji had much in common and were a lot alike, and he supposed that he could see where people would be coming from - what with he and Neji both belonging to powerful, well known clans, and being loners - but honestly, the guy creeped him out. Where Sasuke only pretended to be stoic and emotionless, Neji Hyuga really was. His silence was uncomfortable for anyone in his presence, and his large purple eyes and expressionless face would make anybody think twice about spending time or having a conversation with him. Naruto had always said that Neji was gay, but Sasuke really doubted it. Sure, _he_ was somewhat that way but… surely he and Neji didn't have _that_ much in common.

Sasuke invited him in and was (or at least hoped that he was) a prefect gentleman. He offered Neji tea, which the other guy accepted, and by the time that Shikamaru showed up, the Hyuga was still sitting expressionless on the couch, elbows on his knees and hands folded at his mouth as he stared out at nothing. Sasuke was glad for an excuse to leave the room, and the silence. Yeah, he was totally creepy.

"Hey man! Where's the party?" Shikamaru asked with a grin. When he saw Sasuke's defeated looking face, it only made him laugh, and the guy invited himself in, sliding around Sasuke in the entranceway to the living room. Shikamaru stood there for a moment, staring around at the near empty silent room, and whistled quietly. "Quite the setup you got here. This it?"

"I didn't plan on this…" Sasuke said with a hopeless shrug and a sigh.

"What is this, a funeral?" he snorted sarcastically. "Really, Mr. High and Mighty Uchiha, you should take better care of your guests. And what's Neji over there drinking? Tea?" He shook his head sadly, and made his way over to the stereo of Sakura's, which was shoved aside and hardly used. "The least we could do is get some music going on up in here."

Sasuke felt exasperated already. Thankfully he was saved from having to start up a conversation with the guy, or have an awkward conversation with him about the type of music that was to be played (Kami knows what kind of CD's Sakura had brought with her), as more guests were arriving.

Kiba showed up next of course. He and Shikamaru were practically attached at the hip - Sasuke didn't think he'd ever actually seen one without the other before. And while Sasuke was greeting the triangle-faced guy, one of Sakura's more crude heavy metal CD's suddenly blasted from the living room. She'd been embarrassed the day that Sasuke had skimmed through her collection. It was one of the CD's she hadn't wanted him to see, but he'd found it out anyway. Sakura knew that Sasuke didn't like vulgar music….

Once back in the living room, Kiba and Shikamaru greeted one another happily while Sasuke went over to turn the music down. Neji looked as if he were meditating on the couch now, eyes closed and legs crossed under him. Kiba hadn't even taken his shoes off in the doorway. Dear Kami-sama, his house was going to be a disaster by morning. At least they hadn't asked him for alcohol yet. He made a mental note not to accept anything that Shikamaru tried to give him, and hoped that he could at least avoid the guy for most of the night.

Slowly but surely, more people showed up. Most of them looked uncomfortable and out of place, having only come to appease their girlfriends, and Sasuke managed to get some of them to leave a bit early. Yes, someone did eventually bring alcohol with him - it was a party, right? - and a few of the guys, like Kakashi Hatake, saw fit to embarrass Sasuke as much as possible. After all, Sasuke was the one who was about to get married and lose all his freedoms. This should be his one last night with the boys, right? Ugh.

One guy who turned up actually had a girl with him - he just ended up there because one of his buddies had dragged him along with him. The girl was big breasted with wild red hair, and she was slim and wearing a seriously low cut shirt. She didn't look familiar at all to Sasuke, but she greeted him like they were lovers, somehow managing to make a kiss on the cheek seductive. She sat on her boyfriend's (or whatever he was to her) lap for most of the night.

Thankfully, though drinks were being served and Sasuke hadn't even known when or how it had happened, no one there seemed to be getting too awfully intoxicated. A lot of the guys there were in awe of all the grandeur of the Uchiha complex, and he had a feeling that some of them were sneaking off to check the place out. He even heard a few of them wondering out loud if they could find any evidence that hadn't been cleaned up from the night his family had been slaughtered - like bloodstains or anything. The thought, and the causality of the conversation, made Sasuke sick to his stomach, and he had to wonder how the people of Konoha really saw him.

Did everybody really just think of him as a stuck up rich kid?

When there came a knock at the door again, Sasuke was on the verge of tears - whether from frustration or anger or downright depression, he didn't know, but he was stressed to the max and hating every minute of it. Maybe he could just tell everybody to go home. It was _his_ party after all, and it was already getting close to midnight.

And then Sasuke did a very, very stupid thing. He opened the door.

There, in all his glory, was Naruto Uzumaki, shirtless and wearing tight leather pants with that sexy ready-for-anything grin on his face. The guy had his black tee-shirt slung over one of his shoulders, and was leaning against the doorframe like a male model - or maybe a god. Instantaneous nose bleed much? Maybe Sasuke had passed out from all the stress and he was dreaming now.

He quickly realized, however, that he was _not _dreaming when Naruto's face suddenly fell, and he stood up a little straighter, staring at Sasuke as if he were confused. "What are you doing here?" he asked, and he sounded confused too.

Sasuke shook off the last of his shock, and retaliated with half-felt anger. "I live here. What are _you_ doing here Naruto?"

"I thought… this was Sakura's party." He grinned again, tugging his twisted tee-shirt around his neck and posing in a way that was _really _bad for Sasuke's mentality. "I came to offer entertainment. Figured the ladies could use it. A night of complete and utter Naruto ravishing - and tonight I won't even charge a price."

Sasuke stared determinedly at his feet (or the floor, or the wall past the other guy's shoulder, or anywhere _but_ Naruto for that matter), and said, "Well you're at the wrong place, dobe. Once again, you've been misinformed. Or maybe you just don't listen. This is _my_ party. The one that was forced upon me. And I'm ready to kill myself already. So if you'd just like to turn around and go back the other way…?"

But Naruto was glancing past Sasuke curiously now, and then another grin spread out across his face - every bit as sexy, but this time unintentionally so. "Nah, actually I think I'll hang around for a bit. Any place could use a little Naruto, and this place _definitely_ needs some lightening up. Good thing I brought the booze!" He held up a bottle of some form of alcohol that Sasuke hadn't even noticed before. And just like that Naruto shoved the bottle at him, and pushed his way past him. Of course, he was greeted with loud shouts and laughter that only made Sasuke feel even more low and insignificant. In that moment, he felt his world crashing around him - but it wasn't like the last time. Depressing, sure - like hell. But it didn't hurt as much. It was like he was too tired to hurt anymore. Now he just wanted simply not to exist.

People didn't even notice him as he shoved his way back into the crowd. If anything, they only noticed the bottle in his hand. Naruto shouted over peoples' heads that Sasuke should open it up for them. Sasuke looked right at the other guy, right into those ocean blue eyes from across the crowd, and he felt all the stress and weariness and depression that had been weighing down on him so heavily for the past few months - hell, for his entire life - showing on his face. He didn't even open his mouth to acknowledge what Naruto had said. He didn't make any sort of gesture. He just looked at him.

Sasuke moved like he was running on automatic. He would go to the kitchen and get this bottle of booze open. He would pass it to the crowd. And he would get through this night, somehow. Probably he would sneak off upstairs to his bedroom and just go to bed. He didn't really care what the people in his house did at this point. They were trashing his house already anyway, so why bother trying to get them to stop? It wasn't as if his supervision was giving them any more incentive not to be so rough and wild with everything. Sometime during the night, the music had been cranked up again, and Neji had been usurped from his seat. No doubt he had either simply left, or he was hiding in some quiet room off to himself somewhere, enjoying a quiet meditation or a book or something.

Then Sasuke spotted him telling people's fortunes with tarot cards at one end of the hallway, and his opinion about the man suddenly changed completely. Sasuke just shook his head and made his way to the kitchen. Thankfully, only a small group of people were in there, and when he asked them to leave (and when they registered his mood), they did as he asked and all retreated back into the living room.

"What's eatin' ya my little Sasu-chan?"

Oh great. Naruto had followed him from the living room. Well, at least the guy was finally tugging his shirt on. Though, Sasuke hated the feeling that he had of Naruto wanting to keep it off.

"Seriously Sasuke, you look depressed. What's up?"

And something inside Sasuke finally snapped. Something deep inside him that felt like it had been waiting his entire life for this moment. "What's _up_?" Sasuke demanded. It was nearing one in the morning, and he'd hit his breaking point. Late nights were something that Sasuke was not accustomed to anymore, especially with so many people around and so much stress causing him misery.

"I'm getting _married!_" he exploded. "I'm getting married next _week_. To a woman that I don't even love!" He scoffed heavily, and felt tears burning his eyes as he turned to the countertop. Subconsciously, his palms twisted at the neck of the bottle of alcohol in his hands, as if he were trying twist it open. It hurt his hands, but he didn't care. "I can't get any peace and quiet anymore. Sakura's always pissed off, and I'm always pissed off, and my luck has only gone from bad to worse. I can't even find contentment inside my own fucking house anymore!"

Quiet followed, while Sasuke stared down, seeing nothing but red, shaking and trying to calm himself. His breaths were coming uneven. It was probably the first time he'd ever really cussed with any heart behind it.

Sometime during Sasuke's tirade, Naruto had made his way over to where he was standing, and the guy sat himself unceremoniously on Sasuke's kitchen countertop. It was like a little wave of déjà vu, almost. On days way before, whenever they would hang out together at the house, or nights that Naruto would crash there, he used to sit there on that kitchen counter, just like that. It really threw Sasuke off, seeing him there again, like nothing had ever happened.

The look on Naruto's face was matter-of-fact, and just a touch understanding. "Does Sakura know that you don't love her?"

Ah. And there was the real snag of the whole thing, wasn't it? And why wasn't the damn bottle opener cooperating with Sasuke? He just couldn't get the freaking alcohol opened, and it was frustrating him even more. Finally, he sat the bottle of booze down and threw the bottle opener away from him. It landed in the sink.

"I don't know anymore," he admitted.

"So just tell her," Naruto said with a shrug.

"Just _tell_ her?" Sasuke choked. "Have you not been paying attention? My wedding is next _week_. We're getting _married_. I can't just tell her now that I don't love her that way - it's a little late for that, don't you think?" Sasuke knew that he was being unreasonably rude, but he couldn't hold himself back anymore. All the stress that had piled up over the weeks, just one thing right after another - it wasn't simply weighing him down anymore, it was dragging him like bricks in his pockets, drowning him mercilessly.

"Not that you care," he continued when Naruto didn't say anything else. The change of conversation caught the blonde's attention anyway. The look on the dobe's face finally changed from simple and uncaring, to curious. "You just go out and have sex with random strangers - who are in love with _me_, by the way - and all your problems just… go away." He made a waving kind of gesture.

"I do _not_ have sex with random strangers," Naruto amended.

"But… you had that girl with you yesterday," Sasuke said, glaring. Did Naruto really think that he was that stupid? "You had your hands - and other body parts, I'm sure - all over her! Don't try to tell me that you weren't having sex, or at least planning on having sex with her, Naruto. It wasn't like you were trying to hide it from me or anything. In fact, if I recall correctly, you were rubbing it my face there a bit at the end. "

Naruto was looking down at his hands now, not meeting Sasuke's eyes. Those tanned, calloused hands were folded, his elbows resting on his thighs. "I did take Sayori back to my apartment last night," he said, but it wasn't muttered. He spoke clearly, and in a tone of voice that said he meant what he was saying. "But then I ended up turning her down."

Sasuke blinked, a bit startled, and he felt a tight knot in his stomach that he hadn't even realized was there, ease up a little bit. So Naruto hadn't had sex with that girl after all? "Why would you do that?" he asked - almost snapped at him, really.

Naruto shrugged. "I guess I realized that I just didn't like her." Almost as an afterthought he added, "Her voice was annoying."

Sasuke thought back on all the times that the girl had been around at his house, helping with the wedding arrangements, and he had to agree with Naruto. Her voice really was quite annoying. But then, Sasuke remembered that he was supposed to be on the offensive for the moment. "So, you're trying to tell me that _you've_ had it bad?" he demanded.

Naruto looked up at him soberly for a moment, and then reached over to the sink to retrieve the bottle opener. With one swift movement, he popped the cork off the bottle of booze, and raised it to his lips. Sasuke gaped at the simple gesture. "I have had it bad," Naruto said. "It's just night after night skipping around from night club to strip joint, trying to convince Kyuubi to let me get drunk and trying to find a girl pretty enough to dance with." He gave a helpless little gesture, waving toward Sasuke. "You and Sakura are my two best friends. And you two are getting _married_. I'm talking about a _life time commitment_ here. Don't you know how many people would kill to have something like that? Any time I hang around you guys after this, I'll just be a third wheel."

A stab of emotion pricked a few places in Sasuke's heart. Naruto was actually jealous of his upcoming marriage to Sakura? Not once since he'd proposed did he even consider that sort of possibility. "You'll never be a third wheel to me," he said quietly.

Naruto's head came up again, and he seemed to consider that for a minute. Then, he hopped down from the counter, and slid close to Sasuke, until their faces were almost touching. Sasuke felt his own breathing pick up again, and his heartbeat quicken. He could feel the heat coming off of Naruto's body….

"That's why it's important that I cut things off with you after this," the blonde boy whispered, and took a large drink from the bottle in his hand. "You can't have me _and_ Sakura, Sasuke. She's what you need. I'm the worst possible thing that you could have." Naruto was tall, but slowly he leaned over so that his forehead was resting on Sasuke's shoulder. It should have been awkward with their height differences , but instead, it was just heartbreaking. What was Naruto really trying to say? "I'm no good," he muttered, and sighed heavily. "Sakura has always been there for you. She'll give you the babies you need to rebuild your clan. And you'll be happy with her."

Naruto stood up straighter then, and his body heat was gone before Sasuke even realized what was going on. Finally, he spun around, just in time to see Naruto leaving the kitchen. "So just forget about me already," the dobe called behind him, somewhat obnoxiously.

For a moment, Sasuke simply stood there, still shaking, and not even realizing that warm tears were spilling over his cheeks like there were waterfalls inside his head. So that was really it? That was _it_? He was chasing after the blonde boy before he even knew that his body was moving.

The people in the crowd - his "guests" - parted when they saw the look on his face, and the tears streaming over. Surely this would be the talk of the town until the wedding - Sasuke Uchiha, crying at his own bachelor party - but he didn't even take his image into consideration. Fuck his perfect image. When could he just be _himself_?

He caught up with Naruto at the front door. He only knew to find him there because he heard people shouting in disappointment, asking why he was leaving so soon. Naruto was just slipping on his shoes and had his hand on the door handle. "So that's it?" Sasuke shouted, loud and hysterical enough to be heard over the frantic music. He was almost positive that all eyes were on him, since the crowd suddenly quieted, even when the music didn't. Naruto took one look at him, grabbed Sasuke's hand, and gave one last grin to the crowd before pulling Sasuke outside with him.

Outside that one guy and his girlfriend were making out, pressed up against the side of the building. "Hey," Naruto called, forcing their attention. When they looked up at him he said, suggestively and perfectly polite, "Why don't you beat it?"

The couple took one look at the uncontrollably shaking Sasuke, and with wide eyes they headed back inside. When the door closed behind them, the light flooding out went with them, and the sound of the base hitting was finally muffled. Naruto stepped up to Sasuke, but the Uchiha didn't really see the guy's expression through his tears.

And then, Sasuke did something unforgivable and totally shameless. He bawled on Naruto's shoulder like a fucking baby.

* * *

_**A/N: **__Oh gosh, I didn't know it'd hit me this like this, but I really wanted to cry writing that last little bit… Poor Sasu-chan. ='[_


	11. To Make Matters Worse

_**A/N: **__This chapter was all completely written and thought up somewhere between 1:30 and 4:00 in the morning. So if anything seems a little off… it's 'cause I simply couldn't leave the computer desk and go to bed._

_I'm really wrapping things up here. Next chap has all been thought out, I've just got to get it down =) I think it will be the last one. I also believe it will be the most lengthy in size._

=To Make Matters Worse=

* * *

Sasuke spent most of the next day in bed. After he'd had his thirty-minute-long crying fit on the other guy's shoulder the night before, Naruto had been surprisingly nice to him, and Sasuke wasn't sure how he should feel about that, or even if he should feel anything about it at all. Probably, Naruto had just felt sorry for him. Even after he'd gotten done crying, Sasuke's head had been reeling. He'd been in need of sleep and something to either cool him off or warm him up. Either one, so long as something about his state of being changed.

Even as he woke, crusty-eyed, to the sound of birds outside his bedroom window the next afternoon, Sasuke felt his thoughts still spinning wildly. How was he supposed to feel about today? It felt like he'd had a complete and total emotional train wreck the night before, and now he was suffering from a numb kind of hangover. He'd learned some things, and felt a lot of things, that he'd never even considered he could. He felt as though his life had lurched overboard, and now he was falling. It wasn't the smothering, drowning feeling that he'd had the night before in the kitchen. But it was enough to convince him to stay in bed… after brushing his teeth and using the facilities.

Sasuke didn't need to step very far outside his bedroom door to see that his house was still, indeed, quite trashed. For once, he ignored the filth and destruction. Obsessive compulsive be damned - he wasn't cleaning today. You know, Sasuke was actually starting to feel a little bit like the grouch that he pretended to be. Which only reminded him of the scene he'd made in front of everyone the night before, and his face flushed with embarrassment. How could he have done something so stupid?

Unfortunately, when Sasuke entered the bathroom down the hall that he normally used (there were several around, this was just the one he liked the most) Sakura was in the bath. He felt his face go red again, and he squeaked an apology as he quickly backed out of the room, already on the point of hyperventilation.

Was that really the sound of Sakura laughing? He listened closer for a moment and realized that she _was_ laughing. Apparently she didn't care if he walked in on her in the bath. Which made him swallow nervously.

Sasuke made his way to the kitchen. He was going to go right back to bed, honestly…. He just wanted his morning coffee.

He groaned at the sight of the living room. The night before, Naruto had managed to sneak Sasuke back inside the house through the back so that people wouldn't see him all messed up like that again. The blonde boy had kept an arm securely around Sasuke's shoulders, leading the way and somehow managing to avoid other people all the way through the house to Sasuke's bedroom. Naruto had made Sasuke lie down in his bed, and with a whispered promise he said that he'd get rid of the party people within two hours. He'd closed the door behind him after telling Sasuke to get some sleep. Sasuke hadn't even managed to open his mouth to say thank you.

And now here he was, standing in the middle of the mess that was once his beautiful home, dreading the time when he actually gathered up enough courage to try to fix the place up. If he weren't so worried about how big of a chunk of his money was coming out of his pocket for the wedding, he probably would have just hired people to do it for him. One thing that he definitely didn't consider finding in his living room was Naruto, passed out and snoring on the couch. Sasuke scrunched his nose. That bottle of alcohol was lying empty next to the sleeping guy.

With a sigh, he fixed up his coffee real quick, and went back to the living room to at least clear Naruto of the filth. He took the empty bottle and threw it away. Then he covered the sleeping boy, and threw a pillow at him because he could. Naruto didn't even stir. And how the hell had he managed to get to sleep with all his clothes on? He must either have been truly intoxicated, or he'd been staying up all night waiting for Sasuke to get up and all the people to leave.

Once Sasuke had his coffee, and the bathroom was thankfully free (he didn't have a clue where Sakura was), he was able to grab the shower that he desperately needed. He couldn't believe he'd _slept_ in his clothes, and had actually walked out of his bedroom looking the way he did. Just because the house was gross didn't mean that _he _had to be - and he definitely felt gross that morning (or afternoon, whatever).

All his grooming done, Sasuke made his way back downstairs. To his disappointment, Naruto was gone, and Sakura was in the living room instead, cleaning up in a perky fashion. She had her hair tied back, and she was really getting down to work. How women cleaned house so quickly, he would never know. No matter how reserved his nature was, he'd never understand _that_ one. She even made it look easy.

And why should he feel disappointment that Naruto was gone? Sakura was looking very pretty today, and she smiled genuinely at him when he entered the room. Sakura pitched some sort of something into the trash bag she'd brought in, and sighed as she went to stand next to Sasuke. "It's going to take a lot of work," she said as they looked around at their destroyed living room.

He nodded. "I really don't feel like doing it today, though."

Sakura laughed at him. "Sasuke Uchiha, leaving his house so unclean? That's not like you. But I don't really feel like cleaning right now either. Wanna go out somewhere and grab a little bit of a late breakfast?"

When Sasuke looked at her, she still had that smile on her face. She really was pretty, he'd always thought so. And suddenly he remembered that, no matter what happened, Sakura was still his best friend. Maybe it was just that his world had gone so topsy-turvy the night before that was making him feel this way, but for once, he saw a tiny glimpse of hope for the future again.

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki was definitely not a clean freak like Sasuke, but he felt gross that afternoon too. He'd spent the early hours of the morning rounding up all the drunk and passed out people in various places of Sasuke's mansion, and looking for anybody else who might have been hiding in any of the rooms. When he'd finally gotten everyone to leave, it had been about six in the morning, and didn't Sasuke always get up early? Naruto figured, he better leave before Sasuke got up. Emotionally unstable didn't cut it - Sasuke was effing stressed to his limits. Last night he'd gone through such lengths as to embarrass himself in front of everybody, and cry himself out all over Naruto's shirt (which was still feeling kinda damp that morning, by the way). Naruto definitely didn't want to be around when Sasuke blew up.

He'd sat down on the couch for a moment, wondering if he shouldn't clean up a little before Sasuke woke. Sasuke hated filth, so it was likely just to make him more mad. Then Naruto spotted the alcohol he'd brought with him sitting on the little table next to him. He'd been drinking on it all night, and it only had a swig or two left. So he thought, what the hell? He picked it up and gulped it down, and just like Johnny Depp on the first Pirates of the Caribbean, he fell backward and passed out cold.

When he'd waken up, a very pretty looking Sakura was standing over him. She was smiling, but it scared him shitless. No doubt she liked seeing her house a wreck every bit as much as Sasuke did, and if she'd caught wind of Sasuke's late-night freak out, then Naruto was the one who would probably incur her wrath. She's promptly scrunched her nose at him and told him that he stunk. Huh. At least she wasn't shrieking at him. So, he'd got up and left. Just like that he left. And he had to work today. And the wedding rehearsal was the _next_ day. Dammit.

Something was off about today. Even the promise of ramen didn't make him feel any better. Whether it was his killer hangover or the fact that he'd barley had any comfortable sleep the night before, for some reason, Naruto just felt like a total bag of shit today. And as he made his way home to his apartment, Naruto tried his hardest not to think about the one memory from the night before that he _really_ wished he didn't have. Sasuke in the kitchen had been a sad, but bittersweet sight. Sasuke crying in the kitchen had only made Naruto's convictions ever more clear. Sasuke chasing after him on his way out, with all those people watching, had been a shock.

But none of that made him feel nearly as much of a douche bag as the memory of Sasuke crying did. Naruto had _never_ seen Sasuke, or anybody, really break down like that, not even drunks in bars. Naruto didn't like it, but Sasuke's shaky, uncontrollable sobs of misery had really gotten to him. He hated to admit that he felt shaken too. When Sasuke had cried like that, _he'd_ wanted to cry like that. It had been a twisting stab to the gut, watching something like that. Sasuke was just so fragile, and….

And nothing. Naruto just needed to stop thinking about it. Sasuke was going to get the happy ending that he deserved; he just didn't know it yet.

"Naruto?"

Naruto turned at the sound of his name, and found none other than his old middle school teacher Iruka standing there in the street, smiling amiably at him. "Naruto," the man said fondly, shaking his head at him. He must have been recalling all the crap that Naruto had put him through in school.

"Iruka-sensei," Naruto said, grinning tiredly. He put his hands in his pockets and turned to the man. "What's up?"

"Actually I'm supposed to be bringing you to your former principal." Iruka was also a part-time counselor for the high school, and he was there almost as much as any of the other teachers. Naruto had seen him around, of course.

Naruto squinted his eyes at the man as his head gave a particularly painful lurch. "That old hag? What the heck does she want to see me about?"

Iruka shrugged good naturedly. "I'm not really sure Naruto. I was just told to fetch you for her."

Naruto frowned. Well there goes the thought of a shower and maybe a bowl of ramen before going back to bed. "Do I have time to go home and clean up?" he asked hopefully, but he knew what the answer would be, so he probably shouldn't have even bothered asking.

Iruka shook his head. "I think she wants to see you promptly. But to tell you the truth, I don't think it'll take very long. I'm pretty sure she just wants to talk to you."

Naruto sighed, and set himself to follow Iruka. He just wanted to go home and crash. What the hell did she need him for so urgently anyway?

When he was finally _allowed_ into her office - so she decides to call him there and make him _wait_? - he grinned and said, "Morning ol' hag."

"It's the afternoon, brat," she snapped at him.

If Naruto were being perfectly honest with himself, the fact that he and Tsunade were always so mean to one another was just ritual now. She was secretly proud of him and he secretly admired her. Trifle details that got in the way of how much fun they had making each other angry. And just how _had_ Naruto gotten on such close terms with his principal during a short four years, you ask? Well… he'd simply landed himself in her office a lot.

"Can we just get this over with woman?" he asked tiredly, plopping himself down in the chair across from her and propping his feet up on her desk.

"Right down to business then," she said, eyeing him over the rims of her glasses and shoving his feet off the desk. "So I hear you've had a pretty rough night. But not nearly so rough as the one that Sasuke Uchiha had, I've heard." She casually slid her glasses from her face as she spoke.

Naruto frowned at her. "How would you know about things like that?"

Tsunade instinctively puffed herself up at that arrogant tone of his voice she'd become so accustomed to - but really, the only thing she managed was to make her boobs look even more ridiculously huge. Naruto couldn't help thinking to himself, there really was such a thing as boobs that were way too big.

"You may have graduated from my school," she said matter-of-factly, "but I still hear the rumors going around. And right now all anybody's talking about is Sasuke Uchiha. You'd have to be deaf not to walk outside and hear _someone_ talking about him. And word travels fast, kid."

Naruto let his head rest back on the shoulder of his seat. Kami, he felt so exhausted. "So what does any of this have to do with me?" he asked.

"Oh please," she scoffed. "Will you just stop acting like a pouting sop and just grow up Naruto?" That caught his attention. He lifted his head again and looked at her. "Stop trying to act like you're the injured hero. Quit feeling sorry for yourself… and just _get over_ yourself."

"What is that supposed to mean?" He meant for it to be a demand, but unfortunately it came out sounding more whiney than anything.

"I mean, this idiocy has gone on long enough." She rolled her eyes, sifting through some of the papers spread out in front of her. An email _ding_ed on her computer, and she squinted at the screen to minimize it. "When I first heard about Sasuke's upcoming marriage to Sakura, I thought surely you would stop them."

"Why would I do that?" Naruto interjected, but she talked over him.

"I thought that _surely _one of the three of you would see some sense before the actual wedding date, but as it's so far into the game now, I'm starting to lose hope."

"Will you just tell me what you're on about already?" he demanded, leaning forward and lightly smacking his hands down on the desk.

She stared at him coldly. "Naruto, if you let this wedding happen, the three of you will be miserable for the rest of your lives. This is a _mistake_, and you know it. Sasuke wants _you_, and Sakura is far too fickle to stay true to him forever, however much she thinks she's in love with him. She will see that he doesn't love her, and she will become depressed, and she will end up with some other guy. And you will be one of the guys in bars late at night who can't stop shut up about the one who got away. You'll drink yourself to death by then, is that what you want? "

"What, you can suddenly see the future?" Naruto snapped. This woman was really getting on his nerves. He was usually a believer that Tsunade always knew exactly what she was talking about, but today she didn't have a clue.

She inclined her head and said, "Well enough." Another email popped up. She scanned and minimized it again. "Why don't you think of Sasuke's happiness for once?"

"I _have_ been thinking of 'Sasuke's happiness!'" he mocked her. "That's the only thing I've been thinking about."

"You're thinking on too small a scale!" she snapped. Then she muttered, "Although you're head's so small I guess it's understandable."

"Why do you want me to stop them from getting married? What even makes you think I _can_? And why the hell don't you think that Sasuke and Sakura can be happy together? They've been best friends _forever._"

"Friendship stirs fondness, and a different kind of love - a kind of love that is different from the love that Sasuke is searching for. You _know_ that you can give him the happiness that he really wants, but you keep backing out because you're afraid that you're not good enough."

"That's not true!" Naruto shouted. He stood up, and his chair rolled behind him until it banged into the door. "Sasuke and Sakura are good for each other. I _want _them to be together!"

"Well then stop playing with Sasuke's emotions, dammit. Either take him, or let him go." She stood up as well, delicately, her hands still on her desk as she leaned over to bring her face close to his. "I've heard things about you and Sasuke being seen out together, having a good time. And then the next minute the two of you are fighting on your doorstep, and the next thing the rest of the world knows, you don't even speak for three months."

Naruto gaped at her, wondering how she could possibly know so much about the situation simply from gossips, but she wasn't finished with her tirade yet.

"You know that if you want Sasuke to be happy, _really_ happy, you are either going to have to force Sakura out of the picture and take her place… or you're going to have to leave Konoha for good." Her voice had grown grave. The look in her eyes, that look that said she did know what she was talking about, it scared Naruto. Whenever she looked at him like that, it meant that she was right. And he didn't want to believe what she was telling him. "You can't keep him _and _give him to Sakura, Naruto. If you really believed the excuses you were giving me, you would have left Konoha already."

Every word felt like a punch to Naruto's chest. He didn't want to listen to what she was talking about. He didn't want to hear her words at all. He didn't want to know that she was right. He was scared….

"Fuck!" he yelled, and turned, kicking the chair out of his way so that he could leave, slamming the door behind him. Tsunade watched his exit, and then she sat down to read her emails.

* * *

Late breakfast was pleasant - except that Sakura and Sasuke had to settle for the lunch menu, as it was nearing three in the afternoon. They stayed at the place for a bit after eating, sharing a dessert that they both knew they really shouldn't have, and then together they headed for home. Sasuke held her hand the whole way there.

Titanic had come in on Netflix earlier that day, and he was as excited as Sakura to watch it. Titanic was a _classic_, and it had been way too long since he'd seen it the entire way through and without commercial interruptions. Yes, he did cry at the end every time. But then, so did Sakura, so that was okay.

So, when they got home, they quickly took a couple of brooms, and swept all the filth and garbage from the living room into the hallway to be dealt with tomorrow, so they wouldn't have to look at it all while they were watching the movie.

And as they settled on the couch together, as stressed as Sasuke had been just the day before, he thought to himself that this day was turning out rather simple, and fairly pleasant. He was enjoying it immensely. When does simplicity ever come to play in his life anymore, anyway? Staying in bed all day, having lunch and chocolate dessert, enjoying Sakura's company for the first time in a while, and watching Titanic… it was the perfect day.

The two of them stretched out on the couch together, holding one another as they lay there (although, since Sakura was taller than him, it was little awkward that she was laying her head on his chest instead of the other way around). They watched the entire movie without falling asleep. They laughed and cried and became quiet in all the right places. They both gasped when that A-hole Hockley hit Rose.

And of course, the both of them were in tears while the credits rolled. Feeling more refreshed than he had in longer than he could remember, Sasuke stretched his stiff muscles while Sakura turned off the TV and DVD player. "Maybe we should go to bed early tonight," she suggested. It was still rather early in the day, but Sasuke was feeling more than lethargic today, and considering that he'd been up and stressed all the night before, going to bed early sounded really good.

He and Sakura bid one another goodnight, and Sasuke went through his nightly rituals, and finally lay there in bed, thinking pleasant thoughts and playing flashbacks of the movie through his mind. He was just drifting to sleep when his perfect night was torn to bits.

Was it just him or had his bedroom door just opened? He ignored the feeling and kept his eyes closed, thinking he had dreamed it. But then there was a weight settling next to him on the bed, and he couldn't ignore that. When he rolled over, Sakura was placing her arm on the other side of him, so that she was half laying on him in bed. "Sakura?" he asked sleepily.

He let his eyes adjust, to see her smiling down at him. What was she doing? Slowly, and deliberately, Sakura leaned down until their lips were touching. Sasuke accepted the soft kiss. Maybe she just wanted to lie in bed with him tonight. He thought, that might be nice. But when she lifted off him again, he noticed something odd. She was wearing something… weird….

Sasuke gasped as he took in the sight of Sakura's scantily clothed body. She was wearing lingerie. She had come in his room, and she was laying on top of him now, and she was wearing _lingerie_. "Sakura!" he gasped, blushing.

She must have taking that as some sort of sign that she should go on, because she kissed him again, more persistently this time. He tried to push her up a little, trying to break the kiss without hurting her feelings, but at the same time he was feeling freaked out and frantic as hell. Her hands trailed down his body, making him squirm away from her, but she had him pinned. Oh dear Kami-sama! Was she really going to rape him? "Come on Sasuke," she moaned against his lips. "The girls bought me this outfit to wear just for you."

But Sasuke didn't want to have sex with Sakura. Not now. He needed more time to prepare for this! But she was still pressing against him and moving against him and touching him…. To his horror, Sakura actually started to moan. And Sasuke really, _really _couldn't do this.

He squirmed even more frantically, almost wildly, uncaring now of hurting her feelings, until finally he managed to get away from her. Sasuke lurched from the bed, feeling a little dizzy and confused. "Sakura," he gasped, and realized that he was breathing hard now too, but for a completely different reason than she was. "Sakura, please… I can't do this right now…."

She appeared unfazed by his obvious protests. She crawled in his direction on the bed, stretching her body provocatively. "Sasuke…" she whispered heavily. "We're going to have to get past this point _some _time." She was practically purring.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Yeah, I know. Just… not know. After we're married, at least."

"Sasuke," she started, coming close to him again, putting one hand on his hip, and one on his face, twining her fingers in his hair. With wide eyes and his heart pounding, Sasuke jerked away from her and took a step or two back so that she couldn't reach him from the bed.

And there was that look on her face again. The one that said she was seriously getting pissed. "Sasuke," she said bluntly. "Do you want children with me, or don't you?"

He nodded frantically. Of course he did. "Later," he said shakily.

She scoffed at him, shaking her head, and plopped back onto her bottom on the bed. "If you can't do it now, you won't be able to do it then," she said, and her tone was like steel as much as her glare was like ice. She seriously _was_ pissed.

"I will," he said meekly, and cleared his throat. "I can do it. You just… surprised me. You… scared me." Well, it was only half a lie, really. She did scare him - just not by sneaking up on him. He'd been too tired and content to be scared at the time.

She was eyeing him somewhat sharply, with her head slightly tilted. "So…" she said. "Do you think you could do it now that you're not so surprised anymore?"

Sasuke's breathing hitched up a little again. How could Sakura do this to him? He felt like crying. The day had been going so well. And he knew it would make her mad, but…. He shook his head. "Not tonight Sakura," he said.

She looked at him for a moment longer, tears of hurt and anger filling her eyes, then she stormed out of the room.

* * *

At the very same moment in time, Naruto Uzumaki was sitting on his bed in his little apartment, taking long looks around at the place as if eventually he would find the answers to his needs written on the walls in magical writing. He knew what he had to do, like Tsunade had said. He just really didn't want to do it. He would miss Konoha too much. This was his home - or, as much of a home as he had ever had. What could he possibly do anywhere else?

Well. Get a different job, he supposed. Meet some knew people, make some new friends. And nobody wherever he was going would know his name, or have any idea about the Kyuubi in his gut. That thought should have been a relief, but for some reason, it just made Naruto even more reluctant.

With one last, sad sigh, Naruto stood and grabbed his few cases of luggage. Well, it was time he left. He'd already called in at work to say he was quitting, and he'd already handed over the key to his apartment back to his landlady. He glanced back over to the little nightstand by his bed, at the envelope of pictures he'd never thrown away. He wondered once again if it was really a good idea to leave them behind. Even though he'd never been able to bring himself to look at those last two pictures, or even bring the envelope back out over the past few months, they still contained precious memories.

But he was leaving his life behind; everything in it - and that included Sasuke. Sasuke…. Naruto didn't want to think about the kind of hurt this would give his friend - any of his friends - but Tsunade had been right. He had to do this, for so much more than just his own good. For Sasuke's happiness, he would leave Konoha.

And he would never come back.


	12. Here Comes The Bride?

_**A/N: **__A wise reviewer once said that time skips are a writer's way of saying "I'm too lazy for it." That is somewhat true =) But the part where I time skipped, it was only a little, and I apologize for it. I am done dragging the story out, and nothing interesting would have happened during that small timeframe anyway._

=Here Comes The Bride… Sort of=

* * *

By all rights, the next morning should have been a total disaster. Sasuke should have woken up to an empty house and a feeling of deep regret. He should have taken his shower, and gone to the kitchen to find either a very pissed off Sakura, or a note saying that she was going out, or maybe not even a note at all. But none of the things that should have happened, did happen.

Sasuke woke, feeling the regret. With lead in his stomach, he showered until the hot water ran out, and finally and reluctantly made his way to the kitchen to see what sort of trouble he was really into after last night's escapade. To his surprise, Sakura was actually there, sitting at the table as if she were waiting for him. When she looked up at him, there were dark rings under her eyes as if she'd been crying and had lost a lot of sleep. The look she gave him was almost one of guilt, and impulsively he almost started apologizing and groveling right then and there.

But Sakura spoke before he could, and she said something that was very different from any of the things he had expected. "You might want to get your coffee and sit down," she said gravely. And there was a sad look in her eyes that scared him a little.

So he did what she said - he got his coffee and he sat down, and he felt her watching him the entire time. When he was finally across from her and sipping at his caffeine, cream and sugar mixture, she started fiddling with an envelope that he hadn't noticed she was holding before. It was the type of envelope that he always used, but he was wondering what she was doing with it.

She opened her mouth as if to speak, still looking sadly down at the envelope in her hands, and he couldn't help but nervously wonder what kind of bad thing had happened to make her act like this, especially after what had happened the night before. Sakura's brow creased for a moment when she spoke, but she still wouldn't look at him. "This is going to be hard for you to hear Sasuke," she said quietly.

What had happened? Had she and her friends managed to spend _all_ of his money or something? Had someone died…?

Sakura looked up at him then, and her green eyes were shinning just a little from tears. "What is it?" he persisted, and there was a horrible feeling in his gut. Somehow he knew that whatever Sakura was about to tell him, it was going to hit close to home.

It was several moments before she could answer. It looked like she was thinking how best to say it. She kept looking at him, and away, and down at the envelope in her hands. And she kept opening her mouth, but no sound ever came out.

"Naruto's landlady dropped by the house earlier, while you were sleeping." Sasuke's blood immediately froze. It felt as if his entire body had completely quit functioning.

Naruto. Something bad had happened to Naruto. Something was wrong with Naruto. Sasuke's world was crumbling as all the possibilities dawned on him in a single instant. "Sasuke," Sakura whispered, reaching out to take his free hand. He just stared at her, waiting, in the greatest moment of suspense he had ever felt in his entire life, for her to tell him what was wrong.

"Naruto left town yesterday." Sasuke's mind drew a blank, and she must have seen it in his face, because she went on. "He quit his job, gave up his apartment - everything. Apparently he just packed his things and… left. He said goodbyes to a few people around town last night, as he was leaving. Sasuke… he said he's never coming back. The landlady came because… she was cleaning out his apartment to get it ready for somebody else, and she found these…."

Sakura pushed the envelope forward, and Sasuke experienced the shock of his life when he realized that she was holding the five pictures he and Naruto had taken during their date. The very same five pictures in the very same envelope that Sasuke had left in the very same apartment that Naruto had said goodbye to just the night before….

Naruto wasn't dead, like Sasuke had feared. Naruto wasn't dead. But Naruto was gone. Sasuke began to cry.

* * *

_~Flashback; Sakura's POV~_

"Sakura!" Ino called over the crowd and the music. With a grin she shoved and squeezed herself between the bodies of dancing teenagers. The girls of Konoha had, of all things, reserved a bar exclusively for their use, and for Sakura's bachelorette party. Ironically enough, it was the very same bar that they had spent Sasuke's 18th birthday in. Apparently, it wasn't that difficult for eighteen and nineteen year olds to obtain access to a bar in Konoha.

With a happy giggle Ino half fell into the seat next to Sakura and passed her one of the drinks that she'd barely managed to keep from spilling all the way to their booth from the bar. "Thanks!" Sakura said, and took a sip of the bluish-green mixture. It tasted sweet, like berries, but was unmistakably something that could get her highly intoxicated. After so many long days spent locked up in the house, stressing about the last bits of wedding details, and fighting with Sasuke… this bar was like a haven. The beat of the loud music made her want to get up and join the crowd in their reckless dancing.

Into slung an arm around Sakura, still giggling, and Sakura laughed with her. It was hard to believe that just a years previously the two of them had been rivals. They would have slit each others throats to get to Sasuke, but Sakura had always been the more triumphant in that department. She supposed, though, that she had been the least triumphant as well - everybody got to see her and Sasuke together, but she could never really _have _him. Thinking about it would just make her depressed - she was getting him _now_, and that was all that mattered.

"Sakura," Ino said, perking up a little suddenly. Her blonde haired friend took a large drink from her own concoction, making Sakura laugh at her some more. "You know, you never really told me… what's up with your dress." Sakura's buzz was killed instantly, but Ino continued. "Your wedding is next _week_, and as far as I know, you haven't even tried one _on_. Well… I think you did that once, right after he proposed. But since then, it's like you haven't even been looking. You get all tight-lipped and pissy whenever anyone asks about it, too."

Sakura gaped at her friend. How had Ino realized so much?

Ino grinned up at her. "I'm your best friend. I just notice these things. Now come on, give me the scoop."

Sakura fidgeted uncomfortably, picking at her clothes, and finally downed the last of her drink. "Alright. I guess I'll let you in on the secret…"

* * *

_~Flash forward... The Day of the Wedding~_

Sakura stared at herself dejectedly in the body sized mirror of one of the rooms upstairs, inside the church. Well, she thought to herself, at least it was white.

Yes, indeed she was in a church. Western style weddings were rather popular (not to mention expensive) in Japan, and it was her wedding day, so therefore, she deserved nothing but the best. They wouldn't actually be getting married inside the church though. Everything would actually be taking place _outside_, in the most gorgeous courtyard. Still, she couldn't help but feel like a total loser as she stood in dismay at the sight of her reflection. She was supposed to be a beautiful, blushing bride today. And she was still trying to convince herself that she was one.

"This is your wedding day," she told her reflection. "You're getting _married_ to the man of your dreams. Sasuke isn't trying to take away my right to be a bride…. He's just getting one last chance to be himself before we tie the knot…." Besides, there was a dress of her own choosing waiting for the reception afterwards. All she'd have to do is say her vows, kiss the groom, and ta-daa, she was married. Then she could walk arm-in-arm with her husband _back_ down the aisle, high-tail it back upstairs, and change as quickly as possible. She wanted nothing less than to be glowing and gorgeous and where everybody could see her.

There was something off about her facial features though. She should be beaming, but instead her reflection only frowned back at her.

"Sakura?" Ino was knocking at the door. "Sakura, everyone's wondering where you are. Can I come in?"

"Sure," she said unenthusiastically.

Ino stepped in, and when she saw the look on Sakura's face and said, "Oh Sakura," coming over and hugging her. Sakura hugged her back just as enthusiastically as she had let her in. As mentioned before, she and Ino had always fought over Sasuke, and now that Ino knew everything, surely she would do nothing but gloat. Or even worse, she would just have that stupid grin on her face, saying without saying _"I won."_

No, Sakura was not feeling very friendly with her friend today. Especially since Ino was already done up in her bridesmaid's dress, and looking exceptionally pretty. Sakura kept her mouth shut and tried to keep down the rage of jealousy that was starting to make her feel sick.

"I almost thought you were kidding," Ino said, putting space between her and Sakura so that she could eye her outfit up and down. "You really should have insisted. I know we've wanted Sasuke forever but you should have just told him, this is _your _big day, and you should be able to wear what you want - no matter what kind of messed up second-life he wants to bring out into the open."

Sakura felt exasperated. This really wasn't how she had planned on this day going at all. If she weren't going to have the chance to be a beautiful bride, then what was the point of having a big wedding at all? They might as well have just signed some papers and gotten it over with. And Ino was definitely not helping matters.

"Ino I already told you. This is what Sasuke wants, and if it makes him happy, I'm more than willing to give it to him."

The look on Ino's face was flatly disbelieving. "Uh-huh. Then why do you sound pissed off and look so depressed?"

Suddenly there was another knock at the door. Before Sakura knew who it was or could even say yay or nay to them entering, her father poked his pink head in. Dammit, she had forgotten to tell him that he wouldn't be walking her down the aisle. "Hey, it's almost time… Oh," he said in surprise, seeing Sakura's getup.

"Hey daddy," Sakura said tiredly.

"Is this what you're wearing?" he asked, slowly walking into the room. He gently took her hands in his and spread her arms so that he could see the entirety of her outfit. "Well, I certainly hope so, because everyone's seated and waiting." He smiled tenderly.

"This was Sasuke's idea, daddy," Sakura said, gesturing to her outfit helplessly.

The man shook his head. "To each his own," he said, and it made Sakura smile. It was what he'd always said while she was growing up, whenever anyone made a comment about how strange their family was. Then, he kissed her forehead. "You're still a beautiful, blushing bride to me. And it's your wedding day, _and _I'm your father." He held out his arm to her. "Are you ready?"

Having her father there made her feel significantly better about herself. That he would be so understanding was all that mattered, and she suddenly decided that she _would_ walk with him. With a bright smile, she accepted his arm in hers and said, "Yes."

* * *

All of Konoha must have been sitting out there in that courtyard. White wooden chairs set up in perfect rows and columns held each person in the backyard of the humongous church chosen for the wedding. The yard was large enough to seat everybody and then some, with a wide space running directly down the middle to create the aisle. Two identical fountains stood to the left and right, spouting water from the mouths of baby angels. Flowers were everywhere, the red carpet laid out, and a wide raised platform forming a step was fashioned where the bride and groom would be saying their I do's. The courtyard was fenced in by stone walls, and small concrete paths winded their way around the perimeter, some of them leading into white laced gazebos. Encasing the raised platform was the largest of the gazebos; a latticework pavilion awaiting the soon-to-be-newlyweds.

When the music started up, the entire town held its breath. Wasn't it weird that things were starting without the groom present? They had begun to wonder - not a soul had seen him the entire day. But the audience was distracted now. Standing in the doorway to the church were two daughters of close friends of Sakura's. Everyone _awww_ed as the girls slowly made their way through the crowd and down the aisle; people in the front craning their necks to see. Pretty white dresses and bows in their hair, the two baby faced blonde girls walked like little angels, each of them with one hand holding on to either side of a basket that was nearly as large as they were. They tossed flowers ladylike to the ground, one of the girls even stopping halfway through to place a few petals into the hands of an old man, which of course everyone just thought was so cute.

Behind the two of them came the ring bearer. He was a small child, distantly related to the Haruno family. He held a white velvet pillow, bearing the two golden rings.

Next were the bridesmaids. Their dresses were all soft lavender, and each of them held a small bouquet of flowers. They were all smiling, and even more general _aww_'s echoed from the audience. There were nine bridesmaids total - which the entire town knew that Sasuke Uchiha had found ridiculous. Each of them was a close friend of Sakura's of course - fangirls of the Uchiha who had been subdued by the upcoming wedding. They were all smiling, but some of them had their heads down in a defeated kind of way. Hair colors ranged from deep purple to blonde to striking orange.

The best man standing at the front of the courtyard and already waiting under the roof of the pavilion, was Neji Hyuga, and everyone thought it a great bit of gossip that he had had to replace Naruto Uzumaki. After all, the last anyone had really seen of Naruto, he'd been apparently fighting with Sasuke a week before, at the bachelor party. Word was that he'd left town the very next day, but where could he possibly have gone? And would he ever be coming back?

Finally, the bridesmaids, the best man, the flower girls, and the ring bearer were all in their designated places. Everyone had their heads turned practically all the way around to watch the doors. Where was Sasuke? How could Sakura get married to a groom that wasn't there?

As if on cue, the traditional music of "Here Comes The Bride" playing from the piano drifted over the entire courtyard. The doors to the entrance of the church, which had closed after each departure, swung open wide, and out of the shadows stepped the bride and her father. Everyone gasped in shock.

If anyone had expected anything strange to happen at this wedding -and certainly they had- they had definitely not expected _this_. The audience should have been filled with the sounds of cooing and congratulations. Cameras should have been flashing left and right, but the only camera flashing so far was the hired photographer, and even he had hesitated.

Sakura walked at the pace of a woman making her way to her deathbed, arm in arm with her father and a small bouquet of flowers in one of her delicate gloved hands. However, rather than the traditional wedding dress, she was wearing a tuxedo; that's right, the full suit-and-tie getup, all in white. Her especially bright pink hair was clipped back so that her bangs were out of her eyes, but rather than a veil on her head she was wearing a hat. All eyes were so glued upon her that everyone failed to notice that the only person _not_ shocked was Ino Yamanaka.

All was quiet, except for the music, and Sakura's delicate smile looked to be faltering. Her wide green eyes shot around inside her head as if searching for the one place she could look without seeing a shocked or scandalized face. She was blushing brightly by the time she and her father reached the end of the aisle, and her smile only returned when the man gave her shoulders a gentle shake, and kissed her lovingly on the cheek. Then, Sakura waited, next to her bridesmaids, all of whom besides Ino were gaping. As if she were the groom, Sakura's eyes were glued to the doors of the church.

The wedding march was still playing on, and as little light bulbs flickered on above each resident of Konoha's head, they all turned to stare, openmouthed, in the direction Sakura was looking. Standing there, in the doorway, was Sasuke Uchiha – the bride.

* * *

Sasuke was pacing. He just couldn't sit still.

Back at the beginning, just after he'd first proposed to Sakura, he'd come up with this crazy plan, and in theory it had been a good idea. Shed his old self with one last act of true feminism – or what some people would call, being gay. He would march proudly down that red aisle with all of Konoha watching (or, perhaps not so proudly, but he would do it anyway). Now, however, what had once seemed like a good plan was starting to make him feel more and more like it had been a very _bad_ idea. He was jittery. He was nervous. Frankly – he was freaking out.

He'd only tried the thing on once before, and only because the tailor (who'd been gay, and therefore, totally understanding) had needed his measurements. Wearing it in this little room alone didn't really bother him all that much. It was a little breezy, for someone who was used to wearing pants, but the material felt good against his legs (which were smooth, by the way, because body hair was also something that really freaked him out). As he continued his pacing, and avoiding his reflection in the mirror next to him, he repeated to himself over and over that it was too late to back out now. He'd decided on this months ago, and he would just have to follow through with it like he'd planned. If he wanted to become stronger, more self-confident, then he would just have to sallow his pride and do it.

Suddenly "Here Comes The Bride" started up. He could hear it echoing outside from the window he'd cracked in order to let a breeze in to cool him off. If he thought he'd been sweating before, it really hit him now. He marched over to the door, on the verge of hyperventilating, but he couldn't turn the handle. One of the worst inconveniences of his outfit was the fact that he couldn't open doors on his own whenever he was wearing the slick material gloves on his hands. He grimaced, pulled the things off, and yanked at the door handle again. He had to try a time or two before his sweaty palms would allow a good enough grip to actually turn the thing.

Sakura had already gone out, or else she would have been standing there in front of the door. Rather than getting dressed upstairs, like Sakura and the bridesmaids had, Sasuke had chosen a room just off the one leading outside and onto the aisle. He hadn't wanted to risk anyone seeing him like this before the actual ceremony.

Gathering his breath, knowing that this would be the final plunge, he grabbed up his shoes (another inconvenience) and slipped them on so that he might be comfortable enough with them to walk down the aisle with them on. Sakura was halfway down the aisle already, and for some reason she was walking with her father. It certainly didn't look like a very comfortable atmosphere out there – everybody was in shock at Sakura's tuxedo. Sasuke was even more nervous to walk out there himself. If they were acting this way with a woman in a tux, what would they all do whenever they saw him…?

Once Sakura had finally taken her place at the front of the crowd, Sasuke took another deep breath, and one small hesitant step out into the open. He had expected everyone to turn immediately to him, gasping in shock and staring, maybe some babies crying and a few women running in fright. Perhaps a few religious psychos shouting "blasphemy!" But none of that happened. Everyone was still too busy staring at Sakura. And Sakura was staring right at him.

Sasuke flinched. He could almost feel the heat coming off her eyes. She would most definitely get back at him for this later, but he couldn't let himself worry about that right now. Slowly, everyone was turning around in their seats to look at him.

For a moment, Sasuke honestly considered getting the crap out of there. _It's not too late to run away! _his brain shouted frantically, the alarms in his head going off like crazy.

However, once it seemed that most eyes were upon him, Sasuke gulped hard, and held his chin high. He felt like running back inside, locking himself up and hyperventilating without reserve, maybe even letting himself sob for a bit. But that didn't happen either. Instead, he walked. He just walked, and he tried hard not to cry. Sasuke _really_ didn't like attention, especially gratuitous amounts of it (although, it wasn't like he'd ever gotten anything else for the entirety of his life).

That's right. If you guessed it, then you guessed correctly. Sasuke Uchiha was wearing a wedding dress. He had to admit that it looked good on him. If he stared at his reflection long enough he could almost even convince _himself_ that he was a girl. Many people in the crowd were blinking at him as though they didn't recognize him at all, and he couldn't blame them. He looked nothing like the Uchiha they all knew. He was wearing a veil and everything, with the silk gloves coming up all the way past his elbows, and the largest bouquet of flowers clasped in his hands.

As beautiful a day as it was, it had rained two days before, and the ground beneath the red carpet was still a little soft, and he definitely wasn't used to these damned shoes yet. He'd only had enough guts to try them on once before as well (when buying them) and now he was having difficulty not only staying on his feet, but keeping his heels from sinking into the ground. He stumbled up the aisle rather than walking it. It was not how he'd imagined things going at all.

Eventually though, he made it, and Sakura smiled at him somewhat grudgingly – a tight-lipped little smile that spoke volumes; sarcastically saying _well that went well._ It couldn't have been any worse if she'd reached out and patted his shoulder. But it wasn't until he was standing there, before the entire crowd, that he realized their audience wasn't so quiet anymore. A gale of whispered voices had swept through the crowd like a wildfire at his passing, and now everybody was chatting amongst themselves – some of them looking excited, others looking angry, and more of them than he wished he could say seemed like they were laughing at him. Sakura and the bridesmaids stared unhappily out at the crowd.

The raw self-conscious shame that roiled inside Sasuke's stomach was enough to shock him, make him want to cry and throw up at the same time. He'd thought, if anything, the worst part of this experience would be revealing his true self to the world. He'd known that it would be embarrassing, of course, but still… he hadn't expected this. He hadn't expected to be _laughed_ at. Tears were stinging his eyes before he could hold them back.

* * *

"STOP THE WEDDING!" Naruto cried, bursting through the front doors like he had death on his heels. He was an explosion of Naruto orange and yellow, breathing hard and standing unsteadily as he gulped fresh air into his lungs.

And his outburst would have been quite impressive, if there had been an audience there to see it. As it turned out, Naruto had had no prior knowledge to the fact that Sakura and Sasuke's wedding would be outside – therefore, when he'd seen the church, his one and only plan of action had been to bust in and crash the party. Now that he was standing there before a large empty room, he felt a little winded and confused. Where was everybody?

Of course! Where was that room with the chapels and the pews? Breathlessly, but still determined, he began opening door after door until he finally stumbled upon the room that he was looking for. However, when he barged in the only thing he found were empty benches lined with Christian Bibles, and a small group of children and their minister all gaping up at him. He grinned foolishly, feeling his face heat up, and immediately smiled and apologized, backing out of the room. He sighed. Well, that had been an experience.

However, seeing as this _was_ Naruto Uzumaki, he'd been through far more embarrassing situations before and come out just fine, so he simply shook it off and continued on. He thought, surely he hadn't gotten the place mixed up with somewhere else. He'd been up all night, pacing his hotel room for sleepless hours, and he'd practically run the entire way to bust up this wedding. He wasn't going to be deterred now.

Naruto headed through an opening leading deeper into the large, brightly lit church. The place was nice – clean, sensible, and obviously belonged to the ridiculously wealthy. Only the richest people would be able to afford a wedding in this place. It was all to Sakura's exact taste and style, so obviously, he was at the right church. But where the hell was there a room in the building big enough to hold an entire town for a wedding ceremony? Considering the size of the place, it could be hours before he found it!

But Naruto just sighed. He knew he'd keep looking, and he'd hope like hell that he found the party before it was over.

* * *

Everyone in Konoha turned, a bit confused, to stare at the entryway back to the church as an obviously loud, but muffled shout came from somewhere inside. (After all, the doorway leading out the back was only two rooms apart from the very first room in the building, where Naruto had come charging in like a bull). The music had just drawn to a close when, as if on cue, they had all heard it. Sasuke, though, was too far away from the doors to recognize the voice for whom it belonged to. He simply stared, confused, like everybody else.

It was a minute or two before anyone moved. Shikamaru Nara, who was sitting near the front in his best, albeit sloppily thrown on tuxedo, was the one who got up, saying with a shrug that he'd go inside and check out what was going on. The rest of Konoha turned their attention back to the very odd couple standing beneath the beautiful pavilion at the head of the crowd. Sasuke had his eyes downward when he accepted Sakura's hands in his, and he could feel through her cold touch that this wedding was not at all going how she had planned it either, and she was very dissatisfied. She would try to hide it of course, try to look happy, but Sasuke was and always would be her best friend. He noticed the tiny signals of body language that nobody else registered about her.

That's why he couldn't look at her as they spoke their vows.

Like the greatest of all clichés that it was, Sasuke was on the very verge of saying "I do," when Shikamaru and Naruto busted out. Someone must have closed those doors simply so that Naruto could have another go at his grand entrance, shouting "STOP THE WEDDING!" at the top of his lungs while Sasuke stood there nervous and confused. What the hell was Naruto doing here? And what was with the self-satisfied smirk on Shikamaru's face?

All things considered, Naruto looked a little rough for wear as he stood there by the church entrance. Having that rush of adrenaline finally out of his system, he leaned breathing heavily against the doorframe, staring at the wedding couple in shock as he took in the odd situation. After a moment he seemed to regain his posture a bit, and Naruto – _Naruto_ _Uzumaki,_ there in the flesh – came marching determinedly up the red carpet, and he didn't stop until he was looming directly over Sasuke.

"You can't marry her," he said simply, staring directly into Sasuke's eyes with those pools of blue. There was nothing in his voice that said he was being anything but completely and utterly serious.

So Sasuke took his large bouquet of flowers, and smacked him over the head with it. The audience gasped as if they were watching a TV drama.

"Who do you think you are?" Sasuke demanded. A flash of a smile on Sakura's face caught his attention, and he was glad to see that at least she was still on his side. Probably though she just felt better about the whole thing now that Sasuke was openly choosing her over Naruto.

Naruto stared at Sasuke in shock, mouth agape, so Sasuke hit him again for good measure. "Do you really think that you can just burst in here and break up our wedding?" It was the angriest (honest-to-Kami) that Sasuke had ever felt, especially at Naruto. He was so angry… _so_ angry… suddenly more tears started to come. Hot, angry tears that he still hadn't shaken off from the ridicule he'd received from the audience.

Naruto seemed to take it all in all at once. Nobody would ever believe it, but Naruto Uzumaki was actually quite intelligent, and he was nothing if not perceptive. Sasuke was one of the very few people in the world who knew it.

Naruto could guess what had happened. He eyed Sasuke's gown up and down again, and Sasuke could see the light bulb coming on upstairs.

Being an Uchiha, Sasuke had never once been mocked, or had to deal with ridicule, or even shame. Sure he'd been shy and hopeless, but nobody had ever openly scorned him (other than Naruto himself, of course, but Sasuke had been too in love with the boy at the time to really let it bother him. Not to mention the fact that Naruto had been a bit ridiculous about it). Of course he would get upset because a few people laughed at him. It was just not something he'd never dealt with like normal kids did.

"You left," Sasuke said, and even he was surprised at how much heat was still in his voice. Oh yes, he was still pissed off – he was just very hurt and upset as well. "You _left_ without a word to me or really anybody else, and you said that you weren't ever coming back. So what are you doing here Naruto?"

"You can't marry Sakura," Naruto said, obviously still convinced that whatever was going on inside his head was still the right thing. That was so like Naruto – he was stubborn to the point of it being either the best thing about him or the worst. It was something that Sasuke _still_ loved about Naruto – and didn't that dobe understand that that was why he couldn't be here saying things like that? That it would be all too easy for Naruto to tell him to turn away from all of this, and actually convince Sasuke to leave it behind…?

* * *

The look on Sasuke's face was enough to tell Naruto that it was going to take something big – something drawn-out and perhaps a bit melodramatic (and also undoubtedly gay) – for Naruto to be able to convince him to do this. Leaving Sakura behind for the sake of his own happiness was the right thing for Sasuke to do – Naruto knew it now, he just wished it hadn't taken so damn long for him to figure it out.

Without hesitating a bit, he dropped down to one knee and grabbed one of Sasuke's gloved hands in his. Sasuke's hands were so little and delicate that Naruto almost could believe that he _was_ a girl. "Sasuke look, I'm sorry," Naruto said, quietly, but his voice carried out all the same. He was looking up into Sasuke's eyes with what he was purposefully putting on as a _don't I look so cute that you have to please believe me_ expression. "I am the biggest idiot in the world."

"You are," Sasuke agreed, but the heat in his voice sounded much more forced than it had a moment ago. "What made you come back?" Sasuke demanded.

It honestly wasn't a question that Naruto had expected to hear so suddenly; he should have, but somehow he'd thought he'd be able to put it off for a while. Like, forever maybe. Just forget he'd ever left town in the first place, forget all about his night pacing his hotel room, and then his scrambled scurrying about to get all his things packed before dawn. He'd jumped on the first bus heading to Konoha.

Somehow he wasn't exactly prepared to answer Sasuke's question. "I just… didn't think it was right," he said. "You know you can't be happy with _Sakura_. I mean, yeah, she's your friend and you love her but… she's too into dudes to want to marry such a chick." Naruto gave Sasuke a mischievous, lopsided smile. He was surprised that Sasuke didn't use his free hand to hit him with the flowers again.

"Look Sasuke I just thought a lot about it okay? You shouldn't marry Sakura and you know it."

"No I don't," Sasuke retorted, tears threatening to overflow. "What really makes you think that this isn't the right thing for us? You were all for it just a week or two ago. Hell, you've been all for it pretty much ever since you found out about it. I _need_ Sakura, because she loves me, and she will give me the children that I want so that I can rebuild the Uchiha clan."

"It takes two to tango Sasuke," a voice said quietly from out of nowhere. Together, Sasuke and Naruto and anybody else close enough to hear (including the gaping priest, who hadn't been able to hide his shock since the moment he saw that he'd be marrying two people dressed in drag), turned to stare at Sakura. She was looking at Sasuke gravely.

"I know that Sakura wants to make you happy," Naruto interrupted the silence, and all eyes slid back to him, including one very shaken Uchiha's. "And I know that you think you need her, but you don't."

As much as it hurt him to see that look on Sasuke's face again, the raven was crying. Tears were falling endlessly from those squinting Onyx eyes. He brokenly bowed his head, sobbing quietly, and said, "She's the only person who loves me."

Almost as if he wanted to reenact that night of the bachelor party, Naruto stood back up and took Sasuke in his arms. The Uchiha cried on his shoulder, quietly, but so much more brokenhearted than he had that night. Naruto could feel Sasuke's exhaustion, his will to just give up on everything and let himself drown just completely engulfing him. "No she's not," Naruto said gruffly. He wished he could turn back time (yes, like the song by Cher) and change everything he'd said to Sasuke in the kitchen that night. Naruto should have told him then and there that marrying Sakura was the wrong thing to do.... "I love you too, you know."

Sasuke gave a little half-hysterical laugh. "So _you_ want to marry me instead?"

Despite the intensity of the moment, Naruto grinned. _Hell yes_ was the honest reply he wanted to give. "You remember the first time you told _me_ you loved me?" Naruto said quietly, so that only Sasuke could hear. He felt the Uchiha stiffen in his arms. "You really shouldn't have run away so suddenly. If you'd just have given me a little more time to think about it, instead of running off and asking the first person you saw to marry you, I'm sure I would have come around _a lot_ sooner."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke said, backing away a bit and staring into Naruto's face. Oh, but Naruto wasn't letting him go just yet. If it were up to him, he'd never let Sasuke go again.

"Sasuke, the entire time I was gone the only thing I could think about was you. What were you doing, how were you feeling… that kind of thing. Ever since that day, you're the only thing that I've wanted. Sure I went out and partied a lot, flirted with plenty of women, but I ended up ditching them all because none of them were you."

Sasuke, after staring at Naruto's face in flat disbelief for a moment, started crying again and shaking his head. "Don't tell me things like that," Sasuke said. "You can't tell me things like that or I'll start to believe you."

Another hand reached out to touch one of Sasuke's shaking shoulders. Sasuke turned to Sakura with big fat tears in his eyes and makeup smearing (he'd even gone so far as to put on makeup? Naruto had to wonder why, as Sasuke looked enough like a girl without it). "I think Naruto means it Sasuke," Sakura told him, her brow creased. "I promise its okay. _He's_ what you really want."

And just like that, Sakura walked back up the aisle, probably so that she could be alone whenever she broke down and started to cry. Naruto knew that he'd upset her by crashing her wedding, and he knew that he'd probably pay for it later. For right now he didn't care. He was just concerned about Sasuke, really. And he was getting sick of the suspense and the stress of the moment. Naruto was getting so tired of seeing Sasuke looking so tired and depressed. The whole point of this whole crazy thing was to make the guy happy, and somehow it had spun out into this ridiculous over-blown event that had only made Sasuke feel worse about himself.

"Can I just kiss you now?" Naruto asked with his usual impatience. He could actually feel his legs shifting restlessly. He didn't like all these people watching him, but they'd come to see a wedding – he might as well give them something to applaud about.

Sasuke was stifling his little cries and sniffling quietly. He made a small sound that was like a cross between a scoff and a laugh. Naruto, taking that for a yes, grinned and picked Sasuke up into his arms and planted one square on his lips. Not even hesitating, Sasuke threw his arms around Naruto's neck and kissed him back with a zeal that would have embarrassed him under normal circumstances. But as this was already a day for shocks and shame, he must not have really cared.

"Come on," Naruto said in Sasuke's ear when he finally put him down. "Let's go to your place so that I can take that dress off of you now."

Sasuke, who was already out of breath from the long kiss, blushed a bright pink, and Naruto couldn't help but think it ironic – he really was the blushing bride. And he really did look like a chick. "My place?" Sasuke repeated somewhat shakily.

"Well we obviously can't go back to mine," Naruto said, still grinning. "Looks like I'll be staying with you for a while. If that's okay."

For the first time in a long time, Sasuke's entire face lit up with the brightest smile. "That's more than okay," he replied.

And as they ran through one very confused crowd hand-in-hand together (Sasuke had yanked off his heels and tossed them to an unsuspecting bridesmaid) Naruto said, "That dress really does look good on you Sasuke. You plan on wearing that to _our_ wedding?"

* * *

_**A/N: **__IMPORTANT_

_I plan on writing an epilogue =) But you guys are going to have to tell me yay or nay. What kind of epilogue would you like? Something soft and sweet and totally fluff-filled? _

_Or some sexy time with Sasuke and Naruto? ;)_

_Even with the sexy time, I'd probably incorporate some sweet moments. It would be a full chapter on the wedding aftermath, not just a complete smut scene. Still, it's up to you! Let me know!_


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